THE 


Cotton  +  Ysrn  +  Spinner 

SHOWING 

How  tie  Preparation  sionlil  le  kmmi 


-FOR- 


DIFFEReNT    COUNTS    OF  YARNS, 


-BY  A- 


System  more  uniform  than  has  hitherto  been  practiced ;  by 

having  a  Standard  Schedule  from  which  we 

make  all  our  Changes. 


-BT(- 


-:e^xgt3la.:e^jd  okoss. 


PUBLISHED  BY  THE  AUTHOR, 
No.  1717  North  Fbont  Stbkbt,  Philxsslfhia. 

1882 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1882,  by 

RICHARD  CROSS, 
In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


CONTENTS. 


Mixing,    . 

Opening, 

Regulator, 

Top  Flat  Card,     . 

Under  Flat  Card, 

Revolving  Top  Flat  Card 

Roller  Card, 

Railway  Head,     . 

Drawing  Frame, 

The  Slubber, 

Slubbingy 

Intermediate  Frame,     . 

Roving  Frame, 


INDEX  TO  TABLES. 


Flat  Carding  Table, 

Roller       " 

Coarse  Slubber,  "     . 

Fine 

Intermediate  Frame  Table, 

Fine  Roving      " 

Coarse    "  "  "    . 

Spinning  "  " 

Miscellaneous.  " 


UOKKILL    BBOTHnM, 

STEAM-POWER   PRINTERS, 
133  Soath  Third  St. 

PHn.iDuniu, 


PREFACE. 


TN  introducing  this  work  to  the  reader,  it  is  earnestly  re- 
quested of  him  to  have  patience  to  read  the  introductory  re- 
marks, before  he  attempts  to  peruse  its  general  contents,  so 
that  the  may  obtain  a  previous  knowledge  of  why,  and  how, 
the  writer  desires  he  should  become  acquainted  with  the  object 
of  bringing  before  the  Public  such  a  book.  * 

By  a  long  experience  with  the  machines,  and  the  variety  of 
yarns  that  can  be  made  on  them.  I  wish  to  show  in  a  very 
concise  manner,  how  they  are  made  to  perform  such  actions, 
by  a  thorough  practical  system  of  arranging  and  adjustments, 
which  will  produce  in  the  first  trial  precisely  what  you  want  to 
do,  and  make,  under  the  disposition  of  a  competent  man,  for 
this  work  is  not  intended  for  Theorists,  but  men,  who  are  per- 
fectly acquainted  with  the  machines,  and  Tyro's  who  are  train- 
ing under  the  discipline  of  their  overseers,  for  it  is  dangerous 
and  impolitic  to  the  work  and  machinery  to  tolerate  the  un- 
acquainted meddling  with  important  and  expensive  ma- 
chines, which  should  be  handled  by  a  mechanic,  and  not  by 
empirics,  who  have  the  assumption  to  dictate  and  know  more 
in  a  few  months,  than  those  who  have  labored  a  whole  lifetime 
to  secure  a  higher  position,  by  the  knowledge  they  have  acquired 
so  assiduously. 


6  PREFACE 

I  have  often  wished  for  some  one  to  introduce  a  more  im- 
proved system  of  making  different  counts  of  yarn,  by  which 
the  manufacturer  can  make  his  changes,  from  a  schedule,  hav- 
ing become  impatient  by  the  want  of  such  a  formula  1  under- 
took the  task  myself,  in  which  you  will  find  extracts  from  the 
general  schedule  put  in  a  table  form  to  suit  the  machine,  and 
a  place  for  it  in  the  book. 

When  looking  over  these  tables  for  the  purpose  of  changing 
your  counts,  you  will  soon  discover  how  consistent,  is  the  prep- 
aration to  the  Numbers  of  Yarn. 

Now  this  being  the  object,  which  induced  me  to  write  this 
work,  that  every  manufacturer,  individually  and  collectively, 
might,  if  he  chooses,  adopt  this  method,  if  he  finds  it  the  near- 
est and  most  economic  manner,  out  of  the  many  different 
wajrs  of  producing  the  numbers  required,  for  there  is  only  one 
way  that  is  perfect  under  every  advantage,  and  this  we  are  try- 
ing to  emulate,  and  in  so  doing,  it  is  my  earnest  wish  and  de- 
sire that  you  will  give  this  method  a  fair  trial,  that  you  may  re- 
alize and  be  honestly  convinced  of  its  merits.  If  I  am  fa- 
vored with  such  results  that  you  feel  confident  of  its  success, 
there  will  be  one  more  who  has  conceived  the  intelligent  man- 
ner, which  this  system  exhibits,  and  I  feel  confident  will  be- 
come general,  that  being  so  will  be  the  climax  of  my  ambition  ' 
for  it  is  natural  I  should  feel  so,  having  spent  a  lifetime  in  this 
business,  acquiring  knowledge  by  the  experience  and  oppor- 
tunities afforded  me,  am  willing  now,  for  the  benefit  of  those 
who  are  inclined  to  be  progressive,  to  turn  over  this  accumula- 
ted capital  for  the  general  welfare  of  machinists  and  spinners, 
hoping  they  will  invest  it  with  as  much  care  as  I  have  used  in  ac- 
quiring it,  trusting  that  the  interest  which  will  be  derived  from  it 
may  assume  the  proportion  of  my  wishes. 


PREFACE  7 

With  a  view  of  reducing  the  price  of  this  book,  I  have 
omitted  the  drawings  and  illustrations  of  various  machines 
represented,  they  not  being  necessary  for  those  whom  this 
book  is  intended ;  also,  the  lengthy  calculations  which 
are  superfluous  in  a  book  of  this  kind,  but  have  given 
the  RULES,  so  that  any  question  may  be  solved  on  the  slate 
in  a  very  brief  and  reliable  manner,  showing  in  every  in- 
stance how  the  work  has  been  epitomized,  where  it  could  be 
admitted  for  the  benefit  of  the  purchaser,  and  yet  it  contains 
as  much  useful  information  to  those  who  have  the  responsi- 
bility of  making  the  yarns,  and  more  practical  suggestions  that 
have  not  been  given  in  other  works  on  the  same  subject;  sub- 
mitting the  same  to  your  own  judgment,  by  a  strict  perusal  of 

its  contents. 

RICHARD    CROSS. 


MIXING. 

TN  commencing  to  write  on  the  subject  of  making  Yarns, 
■*■  our  starting  point  will  be  from  the  bales  of  cotton  we 
have  received,  these  should  be  examined  after  taking  the 
hoops  and  bandage  off,  spreading  them  open  and  selecting 
from  them  such  as  has  been  already  classified  according  to 
the  kinds  of  yarn  you  intend  to  make,  for  in  making  warp 
your  stock  will  require  to  be  of  a  more  even  staple,  viz.: 
in  length,  and  if  you  should  have  some  bales  that  are  not 
so  good,  but  of  about  the  same  length,  you  may  in  making 
your  mixing,  put  a  certain  percentage  of  this  class,  but  not 
so  much  as  to  reduce  the  strength  of  your  yarn  too  much. 
You  will  first  take  from  No.  i  bale  and  spread  out  on  the 
floor,  occupying  about  as  much  space  as  you  need  for  the 
quantity  you  intend  to  mix.  Then  take  from  No.  2  bale 
of  another  quality  and  spread  on  the  top  of  the  first  layer, 
and  so  on  alternately,  but  if  you  have  selected  three  kinds 
for  your  mixing,  then  you  will  take  and  spread  them  from 
Nos.  I,  and  2,  and  3,  then  from  Nos.  i,  and  2,  and  3,  and 
so  on,  keeping  in  view  the  space  you  have  at  command. 
This  mixing  must  be  regulated  by  the  capacity  of  your 
mill  and  it  would  be  well  if  you  did  not  exceed  over 
5  feet  in  height,  so  that  in  taking  it  from  the  mixing  to  the 
opener  you  will  be  able  to  handle  it  much  better,  as  it 
should  be  taken  from  top  to  bottom  so  that  the  classes  may 
be  kept  proportionately  mixed.  Now  this  mixing  is  sup- 
posed to  be  for  making  warps,  for  which  I  proposed  an 
average  length  of  staple,  and  not  to  exceed  in  length  the 
kind  you  intend  to  use  generally  and  regularly. 


lO  MIXING. 

Having  once  made  your  mind  up  as  to  the  numbers  you 
intend  to  spin,  your  class  of  cotton  can  then  be  determined 
on,  to  secure  uniformity  of  thread  and  the  adjusting  of  the 
preparatory  machines.  You  will  find  out  by  this  mode  of 
mixing  that  it  will  give  the  cotton  a  better  chance  of  spread- 
ing and  opening  out  by  its  elasticity  and  absorbing  atmos- 
pheric moisture,  and  if  need  be,  sometimes  a  little  artificial 
will  do  no  harm  to  strengthen  if  not  used  too  soon  after 
employing  it.  But  these  are  measures  not  easily  dealt  with 
if  not  cautiously  attempted,  but  act  disastrously  if  not 
done  expertly  and  by  a  trustworthy  person,  on  whom  you 
can  rely  for  doing  it  properly,  according  to  your  instruct- 
ions, but  really  should  be  made  under  your  supervision  if 
time  will  admit.  I  would  also  prefer  cotton  that  has  been 
baled  for  a  length  of  time,  for  new  cotton  does  not  work  so 
well  as  old,  everything  being  equal,  new  cotton  being  too 
lively  and  elastic,  or  lofty,  which  makes  it  difficult  to 
prepare,  on  account  of  its  non-condensing  quality  which 
is  a  great  art  in  preparing  cotton. 

This  artificial  mode  of  moisture  I  have  already  spoken 
of,  is,  by  using  water,  put  on  each  layer  of  cotton  when 
mixing  by  a  sprinkling  can  having  a  very  fine  rose,  and, 
if  by  a  strict  measure  to  a  certain  area,  you  will  be  able  to 
ascertain  just  the  right  quantity  after  a  few  exact  trials, 
being  governed  by  its  facility  of  working  and  quality  of 
production,  you  can  determine  by  its  results  what  kind  of 
a  specific  it  really  is,  to  adopt  when  necessary. 

There  are  other  modes  of  mixing  cotton  besides  this, 
but  they  are  not  so  good  and  useful  in  their  eff'ects :  for 
instance,  if  you  take  a  bale  of  cotton  and  run  it  through 
the  opener  and  make  it  into  laps  on  the  spreader,  then  take 
another  bale  and  do  the  same,  and  so  on.  Then  you  put 
one  of  each  kind  on  Lapp  machine,  which  is  a  very  ready 


MIXING.  II 

method  of  mixing ;  but  you  lose  the  most  important  part, 
before  mentioned,  and  which  I  wish  to  impress  on  your 
minds  as  very  essential  and  an  active  principal  in  mixing 
cotton.  It  may  not  appear  to  those  who  have  adopted  the 
latter  mode  of  mixing,  of  having  the  economy  which  they 
claim,  by  dispensing  with  mixing  on  the  floor,  but  I  main- 
tain that  the  first  plan  I  explained  is  the  best,  both  for  the 
machines,  and  the  better  for  it  being  ready  of  itself  for 
manipulating.  Here  you  see  we  gain  two  points  over  the 
other  plan  and  will  be  better  cleaned,  for  it  is  here  in  this 
room  that  we  expect  to  leave  all  the  trash  and  dirt,  for 
what  is  done  here  should  be  well  done,  and  not  leave  it  to 
be  carried  on  to  another  machine  or  card,  before  all  the 
hard  and  tough  substances  have  been  driven  out  by  the 
beaters,  so  as  not  to  injure  the  card  wire  when  it  has  pro- 
gressed so  far.  This  is  a  most  important  point  and  is  the 
compound  of  the  other  two  points,  giving  us  a  cleaner  and 
firmer  lap,  saving  waste  and  labor  in  not  having  to  carry 
back  the  waste  made  from  broken  and  sticky  laps  being 
made  too  hurriedly,  allowing  no  time  for  the  fibres  to 
expand  after  being  released  from  the  great  pressure  which 
was  on  it  in  the  bale,  but  pitched  right  on  to  the  machine 
in  lumps,  to  be  ripped  and  torn  from  the  feed  rollers,  hav- 
ing more  pressure  on  them  than  where  it  leaves  them 
almost  without  being  beat  at  all,  by  being  so  unevenly 
spread  on  the  apron  and  passing  under  the  feed  rollers 
thick  and  thin,  or  solid  and  puffy,  which  is  complete  mur- 
der. Hence  the  rough  and  reckless  laps,  which  could  have 
been  avoided  by  a  proper  mixing  being  done  according  to 
an  approved  system  of  long  standing,  and  evidently  the 
best  plan  when  exhibited  by  experiment,  showing  clearly  a 
claim  which  I  prefer. 

On  the  other  hand,  by  No.  2  plan,  it  is  claimed  they  are 


12  MIXING. 

less  liable  to  damage  by  fire,  hence  the  premium  on  insurance 
will  be  less.  Now  I  have  some  doubts  respecting  an  allow- 
ance being  made  on  that  account,  and  whether  the 
theory  it  presents  before  the  Insurance  Agent,  is  not 
a  delusion,  taking  a  prima-facia  view  of  it,  as  they 
generally  do,  and  whether  it  will  stand  as  secure 
against  fire  as  No.  i  plan  will,  after  a  proper  inves- 
tigation. It  is  very  seldom  a  fire  takes  place,  only  by 
some  foreign  matter  of  an  iron  or  flinty  nature,  being 
struck  by  the  beaters,  which  must  certainly  have  escaped 
detection  by  the  handling  of  the  cotton  before  passing 
under  the  feed  rollers.  Now  such  an  accident  might  hap- 
pen by  either  plan,  but  if  this  be  the  chief  cause  of  fires, 
I  am  fully  convinced  that  No.  i  plan  of  mixing  will  have 
the  preference,  from  the  very  fact  of  its  having  a  better 
chance  of  being  detected  by  its  greater  handling,  shaking 
and  tossing  in  laying  the  mixing  on  the  floor,  and  then 
being  taken  up  again  to  spread  on  the  feed  apron.  I  will 
submit  to  the  contrary  only — if  any  Insurance  Agent 
that  has  had  great  practice  and  opportunities  of  testing 
and  averaging  the  numbers  of  fires  and  how  they  are  igni- 
ted, whether  from  No.  i  or  from  No.  2  plan  has  had  the 
least  accidents  by  fire. 

Although  it  is  safe  to  say  having  once  got  on  fire,  the 
damage  is  not  so  risky  when  the  cotton  is  in  the  bale,  as  it 
is  when  spread  out  in  a  mixing ;  yet,  with  the  modern  ap- 
pliances for  extinguishing  these  fires,  it  would  be  a  rare 
occurrence  indeed,  if  it  should  make  any  headway  during 
working  hours,  and  it  must  happen  then,  taking  our  argu- 
ment through  from  a  mixing  point.  But  I  am  wandering 
away  from  my  subject,  for  it  is  not  the  insurance  I  am 
treating  on,  but  to  look  for  a  better  class  of  yarn  than  is 
sent  to  market,  which  can  only  be  made  by  clearing  away 


MIXING.  13 

some  of  the  novelties  advanced  in  the  present  decade, 
which  have  deteriorated  more  than  excelled  in  the  manu- 
facturing of  them,  and  more  especially,  at  this  part  of  it 
which  we  are  now  considering,  viz :  mixing  and  opening 
and  the  variety  of  devices  employed  on  these  machines  to 
do  it,  but  they  are  gradually  wearing  out,  as  well  as  the 
new  ideas  they  promulgated  in  their  favor,  are  vanishing, 
when  meeting  a  more  formidable  and  established  practice, 
and  entertained  through  long  experience  by  being  tested 
side  by  side  with  the  facts  on  one  side  and  the  ideas  on 
the  other,  have  placed  the  former  in  a  more  permanent 
use  by  those  who  have  experimented  and  chosen  a  more 
radical,  than  visionary  view  as  to  the  choice  of  machines. 

I  will  again  remark  in  choice  of  stock  for  making  good 
warps,  it  must  be  an  average  length  of  staple  when  they 
are  made  by  a  continuous  spinning — such  as  Ring  &  Flyer, 
and  cap  Frames,  and  the  uniformity  of  the  thread  is  in  ac- 
cord with  the  uniformity  of  staple,  of  cotton,  so  it  would 
not  be  very  wise  to  use  fly  or  short  weak  cotton  in  the 
mixing,  unless  they  are  very  coarse  yarns,  and  then  very 
sparingly. 

Now,  in  mixing  filling,  or  weft,  or  hosiery  yarns  the 
mixing  may  be  more  general  in  the  use  of  different  grades 
from  the  same  class  of  cotton,  according  to  the  num- 
bers of  yarn  and  its  adaptability,  for  the  filling  for 
sheetings  we  could  not  pretend  to  use  the  same  class 
of  cotton  as  would  be  required  for  making  hosiery 
yam,  so  it  will  be  a  matter  of  judgment  how  far 
you  can  encroach  with  the  lower  grades  and  keep  your 
goods  up  to  the  standard,  or  having  the  same  features  one 
time  as  at  any  other  time,  by  which  if  you  have  acquired 
a  good  sample,  then  hold  on  to  that  system,  and  you  will 
surely  succeed  if  you  have  made  a  moderate  margin  be- 


14  MIXING. 

tween  the  raw  cotton  and  the  goods.  In  your  mixing  for 
this  kind  of  yarn  you  have  an  advantage  over  warp  yarn 
in  using  inferior  stock,  and  in  the  use  of  intermittent  spin- 
ning, called  the  mule,  which  assists  by  a  propensity  belong- 
ing to  it,  to  recover  by  this  act  of  stretching  the  uneveness 
of  the  thread  caused  by  a  mixture  of  unequal  fibres.  In 
mixing  for  hosiery  yarns,  you  should  choose  a  clean  and 
spiral  natured  class,  so  as  to  give  it  elasticity,  and  make  it 
bulky ;  the  South  American  cotton  is  the  best  for  this  kind 
of  yarns,  such  as  Perus,  Marahnams,  Bahia  and  (New 
Orleans  and  good  Mobile).  I  think  the  two  latter  will 
suit  for  the  kind  of  hosiery  yarns  for  this  market,  as  the 
fineness  is  not  absolute  here  so  much  as  cheapness  with  the 
laboring  class  of  people. 

The  same  class  of  cotton  I  would  use  for  making  fine 
watps,  and  for  a  coarser  kind  I  would  mix  Tennessee  and 
Middling,  Upland  and  Texas,  for  i6's  up  to  No.  20's  warps. 
But  in  mixing  for  filling  or  weft,  use  Low  Middling,  Up- 
lands and  Texas,  and  grade  them  according  to  numbers  of 
yarn  you  are  going  to  make,  allowing  a  percentage  of  Fly, 
if  you  choose  to  use  some  of  your  own  from  double  card- 
ing only.  Also  a  per  cent,  of  your  waste  which  you  will 
have  to  use  up  by  putting  in  the  mixing  only,  as  it  would 
be  injurious  to  use  it  indiscriminately  in  the  making  of 
good  yarns,  or  even  salable  yarns.  This  method  of  mix- 
ing promiscuous  lots  of  cotton  together,  which  I  have  been 
in  the  habit  of  seeing  at  various  mills,  is  a  complete 
slaughter  of  what  would  probably  have  been  a  salable 
article,  if  the  mixing  had  been  made  with  some  kind  of 
ordinary  judgment,  instead  of  rushing  through  anyhow, 
but  which  is  usually  done  by  the  hands  working  in  the 
department,  being  indifferent  to  the  responsibility  placed 
upon  them  for  making  good  laps  instead  of  seeing  that 


OPENING.  15 


they  are  neat  and  well  made,  having  smooth  selvedges  and 
properly  condensed,  so  that  no  waste  from  that  source  re- 
turns to  be  battered  up  again  to  the  loss  of  the  manufact- 
urer, by  weakening  the  staple  and  waste  of  time  and 
labor  by  this  repetition. 

OPENING. 

Now  we  will  begin  to  open  this  cotton  from  the  mixing 
already  made,  by  taking  it  from  top  to  bottom  in  your 
arms,  and  then  spreading  it  on  the  apron  of  the  machine, 
or  in  the  funnel,  according  to  the  construction  of  the  ma- 
.chines,  of  which  there  is  a  great  variety,  and  this  I  will 
leave  to  your  choice  from  your  own  good  judgment  to 
select,  making  preference  to  them  that  consume  the  least 
power,  and  leaves  the  cotton  in  a  very  loose  and  open  con- 
dition, so  that  it  will  spread  even  under  the  feed  rollers ;  this 
can  be  done  best  by  a  cylinder  that  has  teeth  laid  transversely, 
making  it  a  revolving  rake.  This  kind  of  a  beater  is  not  so 
rigid,  and  will  tease  the  lumps  out  more  easily  at  its  first 
initiation,  and  loosen  it  out  by  passing  over  the  grate  bars 
which  are  set  to  suit  the  grade  of  cotton  you  are  using, 
which  can  be  closed  or  opened  wider,  by  an  attachment 
outside  of  the  machine,  and  showing  by  an  indicator  their 
inclination.  You  will  judge  for  yourself  by  examining 
the  droppings  if  there  is  any  loss  of  cotton  by  coming 
through  them ;  if  there  be  too  much  cotton  among  them, 
the  grate  bars  must  be  closed  a  little  to  prevent  this  waste, 
for  in  some  mixing,  there  will  be  a  great  difference  and 
should  be  inspected  every  day,  and  kept  clear  and  clean, 
that  all  extraneous  matter  may  not  be  retarded  but  allowed 
to  be  forced  through  by  the  force  of  the  revolving  rakes 
and  their  own  gravity,  and  drop  underneath  and  be  carried 


l6  OPENING. 


away  as  often  as  it  accumulates  there,  to  prevent  it  from 
stopping  up  these  useful  appliances.  The  cotton  is  then 
allowed  to  pass  on  to  the  cylinder  cages,  either  on  the 
machine  or  else  up  through  a  wooden  flue,  extending  across 
the  room  at  the  end,  drawn  by  a  fan  by  which  during  its 
passage,  it  tilts  and  dances  over  a  false  bottom  made  of 
lattice-work,  under  which  are  doors  that  can  be  unbut- 
toned, and  taking  out  all  the  leaf,  moats,  and  non-fibrous 
matter  that  has  fallen  from  the  loosened  cotton  on  its  way 
to  the  cage  at  the  other  end.  This  arrangement  excels  all 
previous  devices,  and  is  done  automatically  I  may  say, 
although  not  without  power,  as  the  fan  requires  consider- 
able, but  the  cotton  leaves  its  residue  without  any  beating 
whatever,  in  leaving  the  cages  here  it  falls  down  an  up- 
right trough  or  box  which  is  made  to  conform  with  the 
feed-rollers,  in  such  a  manner  as  to  become  a  self-feeding 
apparatus,  and  goes  along  under  the  feed  roller,  where  it 
is  subjected  to  a  little  more  raking  by  the  first  beater, 
when  it  is  now  about  prepared  for  the  rapid  beaters  and 
made  into  a  lap.  These  laps  are  then  put  on  the  finisher 
lap  machine,  the  apron  sides  are  made  to  receive  three  or 
four  laps  or  doublings;  here  I  would  use  only  one  beater, 
with  two  blades  running  1300  revolutions,  and  the  fan 
5500  feet  per  minute,  and  the  speed  of  the  cone  or  regu- 
lator or  evener,  should  run  about  as  many  revolutions  as 
will  give  the  feed  roller  a  surface  velocity  of  seven  feet  per 
minute,  so  with  a  draught  of  three  on  this  machine  as  a 
finisher,  the  surface  velocity  of  lap  roller  will  be  eighteen 
feet  per  minute  or  six  yards — equal  to  a  lap  of  26  lbs.  at 
10-8  ozs.  per  yard  in  6^  minutes,  averaging  2000  lbs.  of 
laps  in  10  hours.  This  gives  us  some  idea  of  the  required 
weight,  to  be  received  from  the  opener  or  scutcher  to  keep 
the  finisher  supplied.     Now  the  opener  will  require  a  less 


OPENING.  17 


number  of  revolutions  on  the  first  porcupine,  (as  they  are 
often  called),  on  account  of  there  being  more  blades  or 
rakes  to  it,  and  then  again,  the  feed  apron  will  require  to 
be  slowered  at  a  rate  of  four  feet  per  minute,  and  the  feed 
roller  five  feet  per  minute,  with  a  weight  of  37.'  ozs.  spread 
on  three  feet  of  length  of  apron,  unless  fed  automatically 
and  then  the  weight  will  be  the  same. 

I  have  reason  to  believe  that  the  ist  beater  or  porcupine 
or  cylinder  will  answer  best  with  our  cotton,  with  6  of  the 
rakes  laid  transversely  on  this  cylinder  running  800  revo- 
lutions per  minute,  this  would  give  the  fibres  4800  blows, 
equal  to  100  licks  to  every  inch  delivered  to  it,  and  I 
should  say  that  that  is  raking  it  pretty  well  for  a  start. 
As  it  advances  to  the  next  feed  roller  there  will  be  another 
draught  increasing  in  surface  velocity,  but  the  beaters  here 
are  two  bladed  with  a  constant  speed  of  1300  revolutions, 
reducing  this  beating  as  it  progresses,  to  the  lap,  in  ratio 
with  the  draught,  and  the  speed  of  the  lap  roller  is  con- 
stant with  the  feed  apron  on  this  machine;  it  having  no 
regulator  attached  to  it.  I  may  as  well  state  here,  that 
those  who  have  charge  of  these  machines  should  look  to 
the  grate  bars  being  kept  up  to  their  places,  they  are  usu- 
ally set  about  i  inch  from  beater  blades,  and  J^  inch  apart 
although  these  distances  are  not  to  be  considered  perma- 
nent, but  are  meant  as  an  approximate  to  what  is  required. 
You  will  also  see  that  the  fan  is  properly  placed  under- 
neath the  cages,  if  it  be  an  eccentric  fan,  then  the  longest 
radii  of  cover  will  be  toward  the  feed  roller  and  drive  the 
air  out  toward  the  lap  using  an  open  belt  for  the  fan  and  a 
strict  attention  to  the  draught  regulators,  so  as  to  keep  an 
evenly  spread  sheet  before  passing  under  the  cages,  seeing 
that  all  parts  of  the  machine  are  made  air  tight,  only  what 
is  necessary  through  the  regulators  for  exhaustion  by  the 


l8  OPENING. 

fan,  and  this  air  should  all  pass  through  the  grate  bars  and 
cages,  the  heavy  substances  being  driven  through  the  grate 
bars  against  the  current  of  air  going  through  them  where 
the  beater  is  dashing  the  cotton  against  the  sharp  edges  of 
these  bars,  and  making  it  into  flakes  and  spongy  fleeces, 
when  passing  along  with  the  draught,  it  drops  some  of  the 
lighter  material,  such  as  leaf,  moat  etc. ,  through  the  bars 
which  are  of  alternate  depths  and  kind  of  arched  at  the 
tops,  this  convex  side  being  toward  the  beater  it  has  just 
left,  and  underneath  these  bars  must  be  a  box  fitted  so  as 
to  exclude  any  air  from  passing  through  them;  the  dirt 
which  accumulates  should  be  let  out  by  a  door  fitted  under- 
neath, held  up  by  two  iron  arched  levers  and  retain  their 
position  by  a  weight  being  fastened  on  the  same  rod  at 
right  angles  and  by  raising  this  up  on  the  outside  of  ma- 
chine, the  arched  lever  falls  down  and  the  door  resting  on 
them,  letting  all  the  rubbish  fall  on  the  floor,  which  should 
be  repeated  several  times  a  day.  Having  passed  through  the 
cages  it  now  comes  to  be  calendered,  which  is  a  most  essen- 
tial appliance  for  keeping  good  the  work  that  has  already 
been  done,  and  securing  to  the  laps  a  firmness  ot  texture  so 
they  will  unroll  without  making  waste,  and  this  can  be  done 
best  by  the  four  rollers  over  each  other,  and  lever  weighted ; 
for  spring  and  rubber  attachments  are  a  complete  nuisance, 
for  there  is  no  regularity  of  pressure  that  can  be  obtained 
by  them,  and  no  solid  substance  can  go  under  them  with- 
out bursting  them  all  up ;  and  besides,  we  require  precision 
in  the  amount  of  pressure  at  each  end  of  the  calenders, 
which  can  be  acquired  exactly  by  leverage,  and  rendered 
free  from  accidents.  I  prefer  sureties  to  notions  and 
guesses  in  such  parts  of  a  machine  where  there  is  such  power 
required,  by  giving  strength  and  durability  to  its  compo- 
nent parts,  also  simplicity  of  construction,  with  a  view  to 
its  economy  in  the  value  of  these  machines. 


OPENING.  19 


Now,  we  will  suppose  the  machine  to  be  placed  in  pos- 
ition, by  being  set  convenient  and  in  line  with  the  driving 
shaft,  all  the  other  drivings  are  supposed  to  be  fixed  and 
permanent  on  the  machine  by  the  maker,  with  regard  to 
their  speeds  and  draughts,  so  as  to  need  no  mechanical 
contrivances  applied  after  leaving  the  machine  maker,  for 
the  manufacturer  has  not  the  facilities  at  command,  neither 
does  he  expect  to  spend  any  more  money  on  them  than 
for  the  belting  to  drive  them  with.  After  setting  the 
beaters,  the  belts  can  be  put  on  and  the  journals  limbered 
up,  so  that  they  will  run  smooth  and  steady  without  heat- 
ing ;  for,  by  pouring  oil  and  ta'.low  on  to  prevent  heating, 
the  grease  gets  inside  of  the  bearing  and  runs  on  the 
grates  and  beaters,  and  if  not  cleaned  off  before  putting 
cotton  through,  the  laps  will  be  spoiled,  by  having  no 
regularity  of  surface,  which  has  been  caused  by  the  beater 
blades  or  axle  having  lumps  of  cotton  hanging  to  them  on 
this  grease.  When  you  have  made  this  all  right,  you  may 
then  adjust  the  levers  on  the  fluted  rollers,  leaving  them 
ample  room  for  rising  and  falling  in  case  any  undue  vari- 
ations to  thickness  may  occur ;  and  when  you  have  them 
right,  see  to  making  them  secure,  to  prevent  unequal  pres- 
sure, then  the  calenders  may  be  weighted,  leaving  a  good 
margin  for  altering,  as  they  cannot  be  made  secure  until 
you  have  made  a  few  laps,  and  seen  how  they  unroll  them- 
selves at  the  card.  When  being  satisfied  that  they  are 
condensed  enough  only,  for  excess  will  require  more 
power  to  drive  them,  you  will  then  make  the  weight 
secure,  so  as  not  to  slip  on  the  lever.  You  see  by  this 
method  of  weighting  there  is  no  increase  of  weight  on  the 
calender  if  any  hard  substance  should  go  under  them,  but 
simply  rises  and  lets  it  go  ;  but  where  springs  and  rubbers 
are  used,  there  is  no  relief,  but  extraordinary  pressure,  and 
increases  in  proportion  to  substance. 


20  OPENING. 


Then  you  will  next  examine  the  racks,  and  lap  rollers, 
and  friction  pulleys  that  are  enclosed  on  top  of  racks  and 
see  to  their  being  perfectly  free  and  easy,  both  racks  work- 
ing up  and  down  freely  and  dropping  simultaneously  on 
their  bearings,  so  that  the  pressure  on  the  ends  of 
lap  roller  will  be  equal,  and  producing  a  lap  in  shape 
of  a  true,  solid  cylindroid  in  appearance ;  there  must 
also  be  strict  attention  paid  to  the  brake  before 
starting  the  machine,  taking  the  precaution  to  set 
the  weight  on  the  end  cf  the  friction  lever,  so  that  you 
can  turn  the  shaft  by  hand,  when  the  brake  is  applied  at 
first,  for  sometimes  it  gets  neglected,  and  then  by  extra 
friction  being  on,  the  lap  roller  gets  sprung  and  the  wheels 
break,  causing  a  great  expense  to  remedy,  especially  if 
your  mill  is  a  long  distance  from  the  machine  maker  ;  but 
this  can  all  be  avoided  by  using  the  present  advice.  I 
may  here  state  that  it  is  much  better  to  have  a  lap  dish  to 
roll  your  lap  in  when  taking  from  it  the  roller,  if  the  ma- 
chine is  so  placed  as  to  leave  room  for  drawing  it  out, 
because  by  taking  a  lap  and  dumping  it  on  a  block  it  very 
often  loosens  the  roller  ends,  which  are  costly  to  fix  again, 
besides  the  lap  is  handled  much  better  when  the  roller  is 
drawn  out  in  the  dish  preventing  rough  and  bad  selvedges. 
You  will  next  direct  your  attention  to  the  feed  apron, 
having  previously  set  your  feed  roller  to  Beater  blades 
about  3-16  inches  off;  you  can  then  adjust  your  apron 
sides  square  with  the  machine,  so  that  the  apron  will  run 
free  and  keep  the  slats  or  lattices  from  catching  at  the 
ends  and  ripping  off.  There  is  an  arrangement  attached 
to  the  sides,  by  which, with  the  extension  screws  and  bracket, 
will,  by  moving  in  or  out  the  end  of  the  apron  roller,  brmg 
it  square  and  clear  of  catching ;  it  is  also  useful  for  giving 
the  apron  the  right  tension,  as  it  will  get  a  little  slack  at 


REGULATOR    OR    EVENER.  21 

times  by  the  lattice  belts  stretching  a  little.  We  will  now 
fasten  the  regulator  to  the  machine,  making  the  driving 
cone  axle  plumb,  when  in  gear  with  the  feed  roller.  In 
setting  the  evener  for  the  weight  of  lap  to  be  used  there  is 
a  stud  behind  the  cone  box  which  can  be  moved ;  or  the 
regulating  lever  that  moves  the  belt  quadrant,  has  a  long 
slot  in  it  which  can  be  lengthened  or  shortened  to  suit  the 
variable  weight,  and  by  making  the  leverage  shorter  from 
the  stud  to  the  belt  shifter,  it  is  not  so  liable  to  run  the 
belt  oiT  the  cone,  when  the  weight  varies  on  the  feed, 
although  it  does  not  work  so  sensitive,  as  when  the  lever- 
age is  shorter  on  the  other  side  over  the  screw. 

REGULATOR    OR    EVENER. 

The  principle  of  the  regulator  is,  that  the  apron  is  made 
to  vary  its  speed  according  to  the  thickness  of  cotton 
spread  on  apron,  that  is  intended  to  go  between  the  feed 
rollers ;  for  if  it  goes  through  thick,  the  apron  goes  slower. 
The  speed  of  driving  cone  is  in  proportion  to  the  length 
moved  by  the  belt  shifter,  these  belt  forks  moving  always 
to  keep  the  belt  at  right  angles  with  the  cone  shaft  and  the 
diameter  of  the  two  cones  at  the  point  where  the  belt  is 
running,  when  added  together  will  always  be  a  constant 
sum.  Now,  leaving  a  certain  weight  of  cotton  on  one  yard 
of  apron,  will  give  a  length  equal  to  draught  when  the 
cone  belt  is  in  the  centre  of  cones,  and  to  get  the  thick- 
ness will  be  to  suppose  the  lap  to  weigh  so  much  to  one 
(i)  yard  and  to  lose  five  per  cent.,  then  the  weight  and  per 
cent,  of  loss  will  have  to  be  spread  on  the  apron  ;  in 
consequence,  the  top  feed  roller  will  be  lifted  up  by 
the  thickness  of  cotton,  and  that  should  be  equal  to 
centre  of  cone,  or  set  so  by  long  nut  or  by  sett  screws  in 


22  REGULATOR    OR    EVENER. 

bracket  at  the  end  of  lever;  the  weight  lap  can  also  be  al- 
tered if  you  should  require  it,  with  the  same  draught  by 
the  resetting  of  cone  belt  in  the  centre,  when  the  thick- 
ness of  feed  is  under  the  rollers,  the  speed  of  apron  is  in 
inverse  ratio  to  the  thickness  of  cotton  going  through  the 
rollers,  or  this  multiplied  by  the  revolution  of  the  roller, 
geared  in  the  driving  cone  will  give  the  speed  of  apron. 
But  generally  in  reviewing  this  evener  for  regulating,  it 
simply  amounts  to  this,  that  the  lap  roller  velocity  is  con- 
stant, and  the  driving  cone  is  constant,  so  when  the  cone 
belt  is  in  the  centre  the  draught  is  constant  because  the  driv- 
ing cone  is  constant.  Now  suppose  the  lap  should  be  a  little 
too  heavy,then  the  attendant  goes  and  unscrews  the  long  nut  a 
little  and  that  moves  the  cone  belt  from  the  centre,  which  cau- 
ses the  driven  cone  to  be  slowered,  hence,  an  increase  in  the 
draught  and  the  weight  of  lap  decreased;  but  by  doing  so  he 
has  left  a  greater  margin  on  one  end  of  cone,  and  shorter 
on  the  other  end,  which  should  not  be,  when  you  have  got 
the  desired  weight,  so  he  will  just  reduce  the  weight  spread 
on  the  apron  and  screw  the  long  nut  up  again  until  the 
cone  belt  runs  in  centre  again  leaving  room  for  variations 
in  feeding,  caused  by  laps  running  out,  and  sometimes  go- 
ing through  double  and  single  by  which  will  be  seen  the 
utility  of  conjoining  such  a  useful  and  almost  indispensible 
piece  of  mechanism  to  the  machine.  In  examining  two  of 
these  machines,  made  by  different  firms  I  found  the  draught 
of  Taylor  and  Langs  to  be  {'  2I  lo  is  =3-04  draught  and 
Whitings  to  be  r  II II II  tt  =  2.53  draught. 

We  have  now  got  the  draught  of  the  machines  so  we  will 
see  how  to  get  the  right  weight  of  lap,  I  will  refer  to  my 
previous  statement  which  was  37.2  ozs.  spread  on  3  feet  of 
apron  then  3.04)37. 2(equal  1 2. 23  minus  '  per  cent. equal  11.- 
61  ozs.  the  lap  on  first  machine,  we  take  3  of  these  laps  and 


REGULATOR    OR     EVEN£R.  23 

put  them  on  the  feed  apron  of  finisher  lap  machine,  this  is 
termed  doubling,  so  3  x  11. 61  divided  by  3.04  equal  11.45 
minus 5  per  cent,  equal  10.8  oz.  lap  to  one  yard  in  length,  this 
being  according  to  the  schedule  for  a  certain  number  of 
counts  made  from  a  36  inch  lap  in  width  having  ascertained 
now  all  the  chief  requisites  for  making  good  laps  we  can 
now  start  up  and  I  will  venture  to  say  go  ahead;  and  we 
will  now  leave  these  machines  and  go  to  its  successsor  which 
is  called  a  card. 


24 


REGULATOR    OR    EVENER. 


FOB  A 


36-Inch  Top  Flat  Card.— The  Cylinder  1250  feet  per 
Minute. — Doflfer  420  Inches  per  Minute. 

SINGLE  CARDING. 


Draught  of  Card  90. 


Nos.          1 

[ank 

Grains 

Weight 

Weight 

liver. 

Per  Yard. 

of  Lap. 

of  Lap. 

4 

149 

56 

12. 

nO 

6 

154 

54 

11.8 

7 

157 

53 

11.7 

8 

160 

52 

11.57 

10 

164 

50 

11.36 

w  0 

II 

168 

49 

10.25 

12 

173 

48 

10.15 

12.9 

13 

177 

47 

10.05 

12.63 

14 

181 

46 

9.87 

12.36 

15 

185 

45 

9-7 

I2.I 

16 

189 

44 

9-45 

11.83 

17 

194 

43 

9.25 

11.56 

18 

198 

42 

9- 

11.29 

19 

203 

41 

8.8 

11.02 

20 

208 

40 

8.6 

10.8 

Draught  of  Card  112. 


Nos. 

Hank 

Grains 

Weight 

Sliver. 

Per  Yard. 

of  Lap. 

21 

,213 

39 

10.2 

22 

.218 

38 

10.07 

23 

.224 

37 

9.9 

24 

.231 

36 

9.65 

25 

.237 

35 

9-36 

26 

.245 

34 

9.1 

27 

.252 

33 

8.8 

28 

.260 

32 

8.55 

29 

.268 

31 

8.25 

30 

.276 

30 

8. 

TOP    FLAT    CARD.  25 


TOP    FLAT    CARD. 

The  card  is  a  machine  that  follows  the  Lap  finisher, 
when  the  lap  is  supposed  to  be  made  in  a  uniform  thick- 
ness and  width,  so  as  to  get  as  even  a  sliver  as  possible. 

Before  being  presented  to  the  carding  process  it  should 
be  understood  what  quality  of  cotton  and  how  well  it  is 
prepared  for  the  numbers  of  yarns  you  are  going  to  spin, 
so  that  we  may  form  some  idea  of  the  capacity  of  such  a 
card  to  those  counts  ;  it  is  economy  to  have  such  a  fore- 
sight, so  that  we  may  know  precisely  how  much  work  can 
be  done  (and  not  how  little),  also  how  well  in  accord 
with  the  quantity,  for  it  is  nearly  time  that  some  better 
system  was,  or  should,  be  adopted,  and  this  bragging 
stopped,  of  how  much  you  are  doing  per  day  in  excess  of 
your  neighbor ;  it  would  be  much  better  for  all  of  us,  by 
using  some  system  approximating  to  a  law,  whereby  we 
have  through  our  practice  and  experience,  proved  that 
such  (causes  give  such  an  effect)  which  substantially  becomes 
a  law,  and  must  be  referred  to,  so  that  we  may  more 
readily  accomplish  our  work,  which  such  a  systematic  course 
will  enhance  the  value  of  it  by  its  regularity,  and  its  pro- 
duction by  uniformity  in  price,  with  the  numbers  of  counts 
made.  I  have  considered  this  very  often,  and  seriously  ; 
and  intend  to  make  a  schedule  for  the  benefit  of  the 
manufacturer  and  his  overseers,  for  reference,  for  it  would 
be  ruinous  to  the  manufacturer  to  use  the  same  material 
and  carding  for  No.  lo's  that  he  is  making  for  No.  20's,  un- 
less he  is  paid  more  for  the  extra  expense  of  preparation, 
and  then  it  looks  to  be  troublesome  to  change  mixing  and 
weight  of  lap,  etc.;  *'  but  this  must  be  done  "  and  adhere 
to  the  schedule  at  every  point  where  there  is  shown  to  be 
a  change  of  material  and  in  the  machines,  making  your  busi- 


26  TOP    FLAT    CARD, 


ness  more  profitable  and  the  goods  more  salable,  by  hav- 
ing a  system  which  will  show  for  itself,  hyt  being  methodi- 
cal and  in  compliance  to  the  schedule  referred  to ;  how 
much  easier  it  is  when  you  get  accustomed  to  it.  Now  the 
carding  process  is  intended  to  attenuate,  disentangle  the 
fibres  and  place  them  in  a  more  parallel  position  ;  also  to 
extract  the  non-fibrous  matter  from  the  genuine  cotton, 
for  the  better  it  is  cleaned  and  its  fibres  laid  longitudinal, 
the  nearer  it  approaches  perfect  carding,  for  that  is  all  we 
expect  from  this  machine,  having  made  it  evener  and 
easier  to  elongate  by  the  drawing  roller  in  the  next  process. 
Now  to  accomplish  this  carding  we  have  an  iron  cylinder, 
36  in.  wide  and  36  in.  in  diameter,  with  holes  drilled  in  its 
surface  to  fasten  sheets  of  card  clothmg  on.  These  holes  are 
plugged  with  wood  and  made  secure  ;  these  sheets 
are  then  nailed  on  to  the  cylinder  transversely ;  they  are 
about  3^  inches  in  width  and  36  inches  long.  These  are 
fastened  on  with  tacks,  causing  an  interstice  of  one  inch 
between  each  sheet.  The  wire  in  these  sheets  should  be 
bent  at  the  same  angle  on  the  same  card.  The  wire  is  then 
subjected  to  a  grinding  roller,  to  sharpen  the  points,  which 
is  done  by  running  the  cylinder  in  an  opposite  direction 
to  that  when  it  is  carding;  the  doffer  is  speeded  up  a  little, 
but  its  motion  is  not  reversed.  The  grinding  roller  is  then 
placed  so  as  to  touch  them  both  lightly,  and  runs  the  same 
way  as  doffer,  but  at  a  less  velocity;  it  is  covered  with 
emery.  This  should  not  be  so  fine  in  its  numbers,  because 
it  does  not  get  in  the  wire  and  grind  the  points  properly, 
so  as  to  take  the  cotton  and  let  it  go  freely  without  hold- 
ing it  in  the  body  of  the  wire  and  choking  it  into  a  solid 
mass  like  a  grindstone,  and  rolling  the  cotton  on  to  the 
doffer  in  lumps,  which  you  can  see  by  looking  underneath 
before  being  combed  off,  and  the  attendant  has  had  the 


TOP    FLAT    CARD.  27 


audacity  to  say,  "  that's  pretty  good  for  a  start."  Now, 
it's  my  firm  belief  that  a  card  will  do  its  work  best  when 
it  is  sharp  and  properly  enclosed,  without  having  to  wait 
a  few  days  to  get  in  working  order.  That  is  all  bosh  ;  for 
as  you  lose  your  point  of  wire  by  working,  so  you  lose  the 
quality  of  work.  It  seems  ludicrous  to  entertain  such 
nonsense,  yet  it  is  said  daily  by  those  you  have  placed  at 
the  head  of  this  department,  and  will  even  enter  into  some 
fallacious  argument  in  defence  of  what  his  Uncle  Tom 
told  him  thirty  years  ago,  that  such  was  the  case  after 
sharpening  up  the  cards.  I  would  like  to  know  about 
what  time  or  how  long  it  takes  to  do  the  work  the  best, 
from  such  an  argument  ?  Such  sophistry  is  to  be  regretted. 
And  let  us  hope  for  a  more  intelligent  theory  and  brighter 
ideas  respecting  the  grinding  and  the  manner  of  sharpen- 
ing the  wire  so  that  we  may  have  the  best  results  in  saving 
time  and  labor  and  doing  the  best  work. 

I  have  been  in  mills  where  the  card  wire  has  to  be 
ground  every  morning  for  a  few  minutes  so  as  to  enable  it 
to  do  the  work  properly;  and  there  has  not,  up  to  the 
present  time,  been  found  a  better  substitute  to  take  its 
place.  Now,  if  this  be  true,  grinding  is  a  very  important 
act  toward  success,  and  should  be  understood  scientifically 
as  well  as  practically  by  those  who  are  in  charge  of  the 
carding,  as  to  how  the  points  can  be  best  obtained  and 
most  durable  in  comparison  with  the  time  and  labor  spent 
on  them.  And  the  knowledge  required  to  do  this  is  not 
very  abstruse,  because  the  requisites  are  not  difficult  to 
obtain.  The  first  is  the  selection  of  pure  emery,  and  the 
second  is  the  numbers  or  coarseness  of  it,  to  suit  the 
numbers  of  wire  required,  and  the  third  is  the  relative 
speed  of  the  surfaces  to  be  ground,  with  the  speed  of  the 
grinding  roller  and  this  is  not  invariable  with  the  same 


28  TOP    FLAT    CARD. 


wire  for  having  ground  a  cylinder  and  doffer  down  to  a 
smooth  surface  th$  grinding  roller  may  finish  what  has 
been  partially  done,  by  increasing  its  lateral  motion  so  as 
to  bring  their  points  more  to  a  needle  point,  and  all  the 
surfaces  to  be  ground  should  revolve  at  their  normal  speed 
whilst  being  ground  in  order  that  the  wire  retain  its  proper 
position  in  both  cases  and  do  not  lay  too  hard  on  with  your 
grinder,  or  you  may  make  a  point  like  the  edge  of  a  soft 
tempered  knife  which  will  be  ragged,  and  not  let  the  fibres 
off  but  get  all  felted  in  the  wires,  when  such  a  thing  hap- 
pens the  best  plan  would  be  to  run  the  wires  into  each 
other  for  a  while  or  what  is  called  facing  them  and  grind 
over  again  with  a  little  more  care.  Now  if  the  carding  is 
done  according  to  the  schedule  for  single  carding,  the 
grinding  may  be  done  every  two  weeks  a  little  to  secure 
sharpness,  for  this  is  absolutely  necessary  and  must  be  kept 
so,  no  matter  how  often  repeated,  setting  up  your  flats,  as 
close  to  cylinder  and  presenting  as  much  of  their  surface 
as  possible  to  cylinder,  without  injuring  their  points.  I 
would  invariably  use  the  roller  when  grinding,  although 
the  strickle  must  not  be  entirely  dispensed  with,  for  there 
are  times  when  such  an  article  will  do  for  a  make  shift  and 
that  is  all;  the  speed  of  grind  roller  for  cylinder  and  doffer 
is  generally  about  458  feet  per  minute  and  the  size  of 
Emery  No.  5's  or  6's,  make  a  very  good  roller.  The  size 
of  wire  used  varies  according  to  quality  and  quantity  of 
work,  but  from  30's  up  to  32's  and  400  to  500  points  per 
square  inch. 

The  doffer  is  a  cylinder  in  form  made  of  iron,  with  holes 
drilled  on  the  face  one-half  inch  from  edge,  these  holes  are 
plugged  v/ith  wood  and  made  secure;  the  diameters  of  these 
doffers  are  generally  15  inches  bare,  but  with  wire  on  they 
are  16  inches  in  diameter  and  36  inches  wide. 


TOP     FLAT    CARD.  39 


The  card  clothing  used  on  these  are  called  fillet  of  about 
i^  inches  wide  and  in  one  length  to  suit;  this  would  re- 
quire Jf  equal  24  by  15  by  ^  by  3.1416  equal  "f  equal  96 
feet  long  of  fillet  will  cover  it.  The  numbers  of  wire  used 
are  usually  one  number  finer  than  those  of  cylinder;  in 
putting  this  fillet  on,  the  end  is  made  taper,  so  as  to  con- 
form to  a  screw  of  i}4  inches  pitch  which  it  makes  by  be- 
ing wound  on  the  surface  of  the  doffer  so  taut  as  to  almost 
break  it,  giving  it  an  appearance  of  a  solid  mass  of  points, 
which  are  subjected  to  a  proper  grinding. 

The  surface  velocity  of  this  doffer  is  according  to  schedule 
to  be  420  inches  per  minute,  and  the  cylinder  will  be  1250 
feet  per  minute,  with  the  doffer  comb  at  420  by  1.3  equal 
5  46  strokes  per  minute  of  i .  05  inches  length  and  the  draught 
must  be  112  for  the  weight  of  lap  before  mentioned  to 
make  one  yard  of  sliver  40  grains  in  weight,  this  machine 
is  termed  a  flat  card,  with  automatic  stripper,  there  are  two 
substantial  arches  made  of  iron  which  fastens  on  to  the 
iron  frame  sides,  they  are  set  concentric  with  cylinder 
and  hold  the  whole  paraphernalia,  requisite  to  resist  the 
action  of  cylinder  while  carding  the  cotton.  On  the  top 
of  these  arches  rest  the  ^a^s,  these  are  made  of  nicely  sea- 
soned white  pine,  on  which  the  wire  clothing  is  tacked,  in 
an  opposite  direction  to  cylinder  and  doffer ;  under  the 
ends  of  these  flats  are  iron  shields,  to  rest  on  the  screws, 
and  help  to  prolong  the  wear  and  exact  setting  of  these 
flats.  One  of  these  flats  resting  on  four  screws,  two  at 
each  end,  which  are  intended  to  bring  the  surface  of  the 
wire  on  flat  parallel  with  cylinder  surface,  these  sett  screws 
are  made  to  fit  snug  in  the  arch  to  prevent  ever  moving  of 
themselves  through  vibration ;  between  these  is  a  stud  pin 
made  fast  in  the  arches,  which  act  as  guides  by  passing 
through  a  hole  in  the  Jla^,  always  keeping  them  in  a  radial 


3©  TOPFLATCARD 


and  parallel  position  with  the  cylinder,  there  being  from 
1 6  to  20  of  these  flats,  and  the  cylinder  having  a  continu- 
ous action  on  the  fibres  of  cotton  which  are  held  by  them, 
enabling  it  to  pull  and  lay  them  in  a  state  approaching 
parallelism  ;  on  this  account  it  is  preferable  for  long  cotton 
and  making  a  sliver  that  is  easier  to  draw  by  the  fluted 
rollers,  from  the  fact  of  it  being  already  laid  closer  and 
solid  by  its  fibres  being  parallel  and  longitudinal.  I  have 
also  noticed  that  sheets  made  of  other  material  than 
leather,  leaves  the  web  from  doifer  in  holes  or  in  a  porous 
condition,  whereas  it  should  be  left  in  one  continuous 
fleece,  if  properly  carded,  and  there  are  no  kinds  of  cot- 
ton grown,  but  this  make  of  card  will  manipulate  and  re- 
duce to  a  perfect  fleece,  or  web  of  cotton  carding  in  better 
condition  than  any  other  card  extant  up  to  the  present 
time,  it  excels  in  quality,  but  not  in  quantity,  as  the  roller 
card  comes  next,  and  first  in  quantity  according  to  quality, 
for  if  we  attempt  to  draw  in  a  mass  of  cotton  by  the  feed 
roller,  on  a  flat  card,  you  can  imagine  how  the  flats  will 
be  surcharged,  and  they  not  being  able  to  retain  and  allow 
it  to  be  teased  out  on  account  of  there  not  being  wire 
enough  to  hold  this  large  supply  ;  for  the  cylinder  is  to  a 
certain  extent  limited  in  its  speed,  "hence,"  the  folly  of 
trying  to  crowd  too  much  work  on  this  kind  of  a  card ; 
it  is  necessary  sometimes  to  speed  up  the  cylinder,  when 
you  get  a  grade  of  cotton,  that  has  a  long  and  strong  sta- 
ple, as  it  requires  a  greater  velocity  to  give  it  the  due 
amount  of  carding  in  the  same  time,  but  this  change  is 
not  so  readily  done  as  imagined,  nor  yet  is  it  proper  to  do 
it  on  the  flat  cards,  on  account  of  the  increased  velocity, 
by  centrifugal  force,  throwing  the  fibres  too  forcibly 
against  the  flats  and  choking  them  up,  making  altogether 
too  much  waste,  so  you  see  we  would  lose  by  the  operation, 


TOP    FLAT    CARD.  31 


SO  instead  we  will  slower  the  speed  of  doffer,  and  curtail 
the  length  delivered,  and  by  this  means  we  shall  im- 
prove the  carding  at  the  expense  of  loss  in  production 
there  are  two  things  here  of  great  importance,  quantity 
and  quality,  and  when  one  is  required  more  than 
the  other,  it  must  be  inversely  to  each  other,  but  if  both 
properties  are  essential,  then  it  involves  more  cards  whether 
you  do  it  by  single  or  double  carding.  I  also  believe,  when 
the  cylinder  takes  the  cotton  from  the  feed  rollers  we  have 
better  carding,  because  of  its  being  held  in  a  mass  causing 
a  greater  tenacity  of  the  fibres  to  be  drawn  out  by  the 
cylinder,  although  the  wire  gets  more  hard  usage  than 
when  it  takes  it  from  lickerin.  Yet  the  improved  quality 
of  the  carding  is  more  in  favor  than  the  damaging  effects 
on  the  wire  amounts  to,  for  it  is  on  this  principle  that  the 
science  of  drawing  cotton  is  carried  out ;  by  the  greatest 
velocity  of  surface,  doing  the  teasing  out  of  the  fibres, 
securing  them  almost  individually  by  the  slow  motion  of 
feed  rollers  in  contact  with  the  cylinder  or  drawing  rollers, 
it  will  be  seen  at  once  the  difference  between  the  cylinder 
and  lickerin,  for  the  latter  has  only  half  the  surface  velocity, 
consequently  it  is  taken  in  by  lumps  and  can  not  be  held 
on  its  surface,  but  is  received  as  such  by  the  cylinder,  fol- 
lowed by  a  deficiency  at  the  expense  of  the  lumps  referred 
to.  This  is  a  consecutive  course,  which  the  carding  is 
subjected  right  along,  showing  itself  in  clouds  as  the  web 
leaves  the  doffer  and  but  for  the  doubling  that  follows  there 
would  be  an  evil  that  could  not  be  corrected  only  by  being 
spun  on  the  mule  and  stretching  it  out. 

Now  these  flats  have  to  be  ground  on  a  grinder,  a  ma- 
chine made  for  that  purpose :  it  is  a  cylinder  or  roller 
covered  with  emery,  which  has  a  constant  rotary  motion  ; 
some  are  oscillating,  others  are  traversing,  over  which  these 


32  TOP     FLAT    CARD, 


flats  are  held  in  a  frame  having  an  alternate  motion,  mov- 
ing in  SL  tangential  direction  over  the  centre  of  grinding 
roller  to  insure  a  plane  surface,  they  are  then  placed  on 
the  arches  of  the  card  according  to  their  numbers  and 
variety  of  wire  nailed  on  them ;  those  having  the  coarsest 
wire  being  the  first  to  take  the  cotton.  They  are  all  set 
close  to  cylinder,  so  are  the  feed  rollers  and  the  doffer  too, 
but  just  to  escape  contact.  You  will  then  adjust  the  comb 
just  to  escape  striking  the  wire  on  the  doffer,  and  its  nor- 
mal position  giving  the  sliver  its  proper  tension,  as  this  is 
altered  by  rising  or  lowering  the  comb  blade,  and  in  col- 
lecting the  web  together  before  going  through  the  calender 
rolls,  I  would  recommend  a  Holland  guide,  and  when  a 
shield  underneath  is  necessary,  it  should  be  set  a  couple  of 
inches  from  the  doffer,  so  that  the  leaves  and  seed  husks 
will  drop  between  on  the  floor. 

The  calender  rolls  must  not  have  any  more  surface  ve- 
locity than  the  doffer  has,  because  the  thickness  of  sliver 
will  create  tension  enough  to  carry  it  up  to  the  calender 
rolls. 

We  have  now  got  all  the  relative  speeds  from  the  cylin- 
der, which  will  lead  us  on  for  a  trial  to  prove  by  this  in- 
ductive principle ;  whether  we  can  make  good  carding  or 
not,  as  the  web  is  being  combed  from  the  doffer,  we  must 
look  for  a  full  and  clear  fleece,  taking  care  the  edges  are 
regular  and  smooth,  for  it  spoils  good  carding  to  have 
ragged  edges  which  can  be  prevented,  by  having  the  wire 
on  the  Flats  exceed  in  width  the  cylinder  wire. 

We  will  now  suppose  the  sliver  to  be  leaving  the  calen- 
der rolls  in  good  shape,  it  will  now  be  an  economical 
choice  and  not  of  taste,  which  kind  of  process,  whether 
that  of  coiling  it  in  cans  at  each  card,  or  by  carrying  the 
slivers  by  a  belt  up  to  a  railway  head  :  I  would  prefer  the 


TOP    FLA-T    CARD.  33 


latter  for  its  doublings  and  attenuating  principles  in  com- 
bination with  the  cards,  if  there  be  not  too  many  cards  in 
a  section 

We  shall  now  refer  to  the  schedule  which  says  that  the 
total  weight  of  all  the  slivers  shall  approximate  to  360 
grains,  then  according  to  that  our  card  slivers  we  called 
forty  grains  to  one  yard,  then  '^'^=9  cards  to  one  section, 
which  are  sufficient  for  one  railway  head,  these  number  of 
ends  9  are  carried  on  an  endless  belt,  up  to  the  railway 
head,  forming  one  large  sliver,  being  collected  and  laid  of 
equal  thickness  before  going  through  the  rollers,  and  from 
the  weight  of  sliver,  we  have  decided  on  making  on  the 
card,  will  depend  the  weight  of  railway  head  sliver  by  the 
draught,  for  these  are  to  be  nearly  constant. 

In  order  to  make  this  single  carding  good  and  strong, 
we  must  dispense  with  the  screens  underneath  the  cylinder, 
to  let  the  rubbish  and  short  fibres  drop  on  the  floor,  for 
these  are  injurious  to  the  strength  of  the  yarn,  there  may 
seem  to  be  a  loss  by  such  a  whim,  which  would  assume 
large  proportions  monthly;  but,  the  policy  of  this  under- 
taking is  to  insure  success,  showing  by  the  clamorous  custo- 
mers the  demand  for  your  yarns,  which  more  than  counter- 
balances the  small  percentage  of  waste  incurred,  and  even 
this  is  redeemed  by  the  extra  production,  but  the  greatest 
of  all  is  the  contentment  of  mind,  both  at  your  mill  and 
in  the  market,  all  hands  meet  you  with  a  pleasant  smile, 
and  who  would  toil  under  disadvantages  when  the  above 
precept  will  secure  comfort. 

The  connection  between  doffer  and  the  feed  rollers  by 
the  train  of  wheels,  should  be  adjusted  so  that  there 
will  be  no  jirks  or  irregular  motion  of  the  latter, 
seeing  that  no  cotton  accumulates  round  their  ends, 
to  the  detriment  of  the   grip   in   holding   the   lap,    and 


34  THE    UNDER    FLAT    CARD. 

securing  a  uniform  pressure  obtained  by  the  short  levers 
and  weight  placed  over  their  journals,  which  should  be 
equal  and  permanent  when  the  precise  leverage  has  been 
determined  on  from  the  diameters  of  rollers  and  thickness 
of  lap,  and  prevention  of  lumps  being  plucked  in  by  the 
cylinder,  which  often  is  a  trouble  and  serious  evil.  But 
this,  to  a  certain  extent,  is  due  to  irregular  made  laps,  and 
must  be  remedied  at  once ;  and  before  leaving  this  flat 
card,  let  me  induce  you  to  have  the  slivers  arranged,  side 
by  side,  on  the  belt  in  the  railway  trough,  to  insure  an 
equal  pressure  by  the  top  rollers  of  the  railway  head ;  this 
being  so,  will  require  less  leverage  on  them,  although  it  is  ^ 
necessary  sometimes  to  have  these  slivers  more  compact, 
so  as  to  condense  and  hold  the  fibres.  This  is  very  often 
the  case  in  dyed  cotton,  which  makes  it  difficult  to  draw, 
and  will  require  more  leverage  on  the  rollers  ;  but  use  no 
more  than  just  enough,  or  your  rollers  will  soon  be  de- 
stroyed. I  may  remark  here  that  the  flat  card  would  not 
be  so  profitable,  requiring  more  attention  and  labor  to  keep 
in  condition  for  the  carding  of  colored  cottons,  which  are 
not  so  easily  disentangled  as  white  cottons  are. 

THE     UNDER   FLAT    CARD. 

With  due  respect  to  the  inventor  of  this  card  and  those 
who  are  interested  in  the  benefits  from  it,  I  feel  deeply 
affected  for  fear  I  should  give  some  off'ence,  by  describing 
to  you  my  experience  with  them,  having  no  desire  to  con- 
demn or  denounce  that  which,  we  hope,  will  ultimately  be 
improved,  like  all  new  machines  are  subject  to  in  their  de- 
velopment. I  now  seek  your  sympathy  in  such  a  task  in 
giving  to  you  my  views  held  from  experience  ;  and  it  is 
necessary,  for  the  welfare  of  all  and  the  machine,  to  point 


THE     UNDER    FLAT    CARD.  35 

out  such  parts  that  may  or  may  not  be  improved,  as  well 
as  giving  its  estimable  qualities,  which  is  not  required  from 
me,  but  from  those  who  have  them  in  use  all  over  the 
country,  will  testify. 

Now,  this  card  being  a  more  recent  innovation,  and  one 
that  has  been  a  success  by  the  demand  for  them,  this 
popularity  has  extended  far  and  near  in  such  a  short 
period,  that  they  have  not  had  a  thorough  investigation  of 
its  merits  claimed  over  their  predecessors.  There  are 
some  doubts  about  these  novelties  being  accessory  to  im- 
provement, when  properly  understood,  for  their  construc- 
tion seems  to  be  astray  from  carding  principles,  one  being 
its  manner  of  presenting  the  cotton  to  the  cylinder 
from  the  lap  with  the  two  rollers.  This  application  seems 
to  be  inevitable  from  the  construction  of  card  more  than 
having  any  carding  virtues;  we  must  not  retrograde  know- 
ingly, for  we  want  advancement  in  ideas  and  curtailing  of 
expenses  which  have  not  been  considered,  but  have  fol- 
lowed the  caprice  of  enthusiasm  by  the  maddening  effect 
of  competition  in  the  market,  of  who  can  do  most,  will 
get  most,  has  been  ringing  in  the  ears  of  manufacturers. 
The  under  flat  card  which  has  been  appreciated  for  its 
quantity  of  work  over  the  ordinary  flat  card,  which  gives 
it  an  attractive  advertisement,  causing  anxious  inquiries  by 
those  who  are  desirous  of  making  a  change,  would  like  to 
see  and  judge  by  its  results  how  far  they  can  venture  more 
capital  because  others  have  done  so. 

The  card  has  not  shown  itself  yet  to  be  one  of  great 
advantage  or  capacity,  not  a  desideratum  by  any  means ; 
we  have  yet  to  learn  how  they  get  such  strong  yarn  these 
cards  are' said  to  make,  when  from  test  and  experience  it 
shows  there  is  an  excess  of  short  fibres  over  an  ordinary 
flat  card  more  in  proportion  than  the  extra  weight  turned 


36  THE    UNDER    FLAT    CARD. 

off,  which  exhibits  itself  when  it  comes  to  be  twisted  and 
is  as  good  a  test  as  any  combing  would  be,  if  such  could 
be  ascertained  with  middling  cotton  from  such  a  card ;  its 
defects  will  be  shown  by  the  former  twisting  in  its  appear- 
ance on  the  bobbin,  like  a  mixing  of  too  much  fly  and 
waiste  exhibits  and  th6  rollers  requires  to  be  set  closer,  also 
a  greater  amount  of  twist,  and  by  the  latter  plan  of  comb- 
ing, we  should  get  the  exact  amount  of  short  fibres,  show- 
ing by  comparison  an  excess,  it  being  a  well-known  fact 
that  they  reduce  the  strength  of  yarn  and  should  be  thrown 
out  along  with  the  leaf  and  other  rubbish ;  how  is  it  to  get 
out  when  the  flats  are  right  under  the  line  of  direction  and 
under  the  centre  line,  covering  Yi  of  surface  of  cylinder  ? 
But  these  are  not  the  worst  features  that  card  has  a  tendency 
to  do,  and  does  it  without  cessation,  and  that  is,  by  the 
rapid  revolutions  of  cylinder  the  fibres  of  cotton  are  lashed 
into  the  underflats,  by  an  additional  force  of  gravity,  be- 
sides the  sand  and  dirt  they  hold,  which  should  be  dropped 
on  the  floor,  helps  to  surcharge  the  underflats,  which  is 
instrumental  in  making  bad  work,  along  with  the  extra 
labor  required  in  setting  them,  there  being  difficulty  in 
securing  a  person  to  do  the  work  faithfully,  for  you  know 
how  dilatory  they  are  in  going  about  tedious  and  exact 
setting,  unless  they  are  paid  a  premium,  but  let  them 
neglect  them  ever  so  slightly,  and  you  will  soon 
discover  to  your  sorrow  the  evil  ot  having  these  flats 
any  lower  than  the  feed  roller  or  centre  line,  for 
it  is  evident  from  the  remarks  previously  stated  that 
there  must  be  an  excess  of  mutilation  which  short- 
ens the  much  wanted  fibres,  this  evil  is  not  to  be 
detected  so  well  until  it  comes  to  be  twisted ;  it  will  all 
look  very  well  while  the  card  is  just  newly  set  and  sharp. 
I  will  remark  here  an  instance  which  proved  to  me  how  a 


THE    UNDER    FLAT    CARD.  37 


person  can  he  deceived  by  what  seems  to  be  first-class 
carding  and  drawing,  which  I  happened  to  see  in  one  of 
our  large  manufacturing  establishments  (this  has  no  refer- 
ence to  underflat  card,  but  the  mixing  of  short  cotton,) 
being  favoured  by  a  permit  and  escort  to  go  through  ev- 
ery department ;  after  being  through  the  card-room,  I  was 
taken  down  to  the  mixing  room,  and  there  I  saw  cotton 
that  I  thought  was  not  fit  to  use  even  for  No.  6's,  let  alone 
for  finer  numbers,  although  the  mixing  got  a  percentage 
of  it.  I  was  then  taken  to  the  ring  spinning  and  bobbin 
winding  room.  I  there  picked  up  a  bobbin,  to  examine 
the  yarn,  which  was  and  might  well  be  termed  fearful.  I 
could  hardly  believe  it  was  all  alike,  so  I  got  another  one, 
and  there  was  the  same  irregularity  of  the  yarn.  I  was 
struck  with  astonishment,  and  it  made  me  think  seriously 
of  the  matter,  and  the  conclusion  I  arrived  at,  was  that  it 
was  caused  by  the  diversity  in  length  of  fibre  and  weak- 
ness ;  and  now  I  will  leave  you  to  form  your  own  judgment 
in  this  argument,  and  in  addition  to  this  look  at  the  strip- 
pings  from  this  card,  and  this  you  dare  not  do  perfectly 
because  the  double  stripping  requires  too  much  power,  and 
would  break  the  strippers  constantly,  which  are  costly  to 
repair,  taking  everything  into  consideration  with  the  gen- 
eral appearance  of  the  card  when  working,  it  is  untidy  all 
around  by  stripping,  etc.,  requiring  more  help  to  keep  the 
room  looking  anything  like  neatness,  leaving  nothing  at- 
tractive or  desirable  in  such  novelties. 

If  utility  and  progress  are  the  ideas  of  the  age  let  us  not 
have  them  stunted  by  such  a  speculation  in  that  which 
is  the  reverse  :  we  must  let  the  mind  go  free  and  investi- 
gate the  truth,  for  the  benefit  of  those  who  have  not  the 
courage  or  desire  to  search  into  these  things  which  are 
doubtful,   and   might  destroy  that  which  is  desirable  in 


38  THE    REVOLVING    TOP    FLAT    CARD. 

man,  to  arrive  at  perfection  in  all  things.  It  is  this  view 
that  I  have  taken  in  reviewing  this  under-flat  card  to  speak 
the  truth  in  every  respect ;  from  the  conviction  arrived  at 
by  a  diligent  watch  over  its  workings,  and  not  from  hear- 
say have  I  ventured  a  single  assertion,  but  give  my  experi- 
ence with  them.  For  it  has  been  a  benefit  to  the  inventor, 
to  the  maker,  and  the  machinist  in  giving  them  employ- 
ment, from  which  I  hope  they  have  all  derived  a  reward, 
and  will  ultimately  improve  it,  and  make  it  a  success.  It 
has  not  been  a  sordid  or  inviduous  attempt  on  my  part 
toward  the  projectors,  but  really  feel  it  my  duty  to  say  what 
I  have  done  for  the  purpose  of  showing  the  manufacturers 
the  necessity  for  such  a  class  of  machines,  that  will  im- 
prove and  earn  them  a  name  in  the  worlds  market  for 
making  the  best  yarns,  and  hold  ourselves  as  such  against 
all  competitors,  of  which  there  are  many ;  let  us  endeavor 
to  improve  our  machines  by  making  them  simple  by  dis- 
pensing with,  instead  of  adding  more  to,  so  that  they  will 
require  less  expense  and  labor,  striving  to  excel  in  the 
quality  of  its  production,  at  the  same  time  showing  that 
our  ideas  are  progressive,  having  a  more  intellectual 
desire  in  our  reform,  comprehending  that  our  changes 
shall  blend  the  two  elements  together,  and  by  so 
doing  we  are  aiming  at  more  than  an  ordinary  novelty 
in  our  improvements  retaining  our  prestige  for  genius  and 
securing  us  a  reward  by  the  approbation  which  mankind 
will  lavish  on  our  inventive  talent. 

THE  REVOLVING    TOP  FLAT  CARD. 

We  have  a  revolving  top-flat  card,  which  does  very  good 
work 'and  plenty  of  it,  but  its  care  and  attention  requires 
too  much  skill  and  labor  to  make  it  a  desirable  machine. 


THE    REVOLVING    TOP    FLAT    CARD, 


39 


KOR   A 

40-Inch  Roller  Card.— The  Cylinder  1500  feet 
per  Minute. 


Draught 

OF  Card 

90. 

Nos.       1 

lank 

Grains 

Weight 

Vel. 

Lbs. 

liver. 

Per  Yard. 

of  Lap. 

of  Dofifer. 

per  Day, 

4 

122 

68 

14.7 

1 107 

180 

6 

126 

66 

14.25 

1065 

166 

7 

128 

65 

14- 

1045 

163 

8 

130 

64 

13-8 

1034 

158 

lO 

134 

62 

13.38 

1000 

150 

II 

136 

61 

13.16 

985 

144 

12 

139 

60 

12.96 

970 

140 

13 

141 

59 

12.7 

955 

135 

H 

143 

58 

12.5 

940 

130 

15 

146 

57 

12.3 

925 

125 

i6 

149 

56 

12. 

910 

120 

17 

151 

55 

11.87 

890 

116 

i8 

154 

54 

11.65 

870 

113 

19 

157 

53 

11.44 

855 

108 

20 

160 

52 

11.22 

840 

104 

Draught 

OF  Card 

[12. 

Nos.       1 

lank 

Grains 

Weight 

Vel. 

Lbs. 

liver. 

Per  Yard. 

of  Lap. 

of  Doffer. 

per  Day. 

21 

163 

51 

13.7 

830 

100 

22 

166 

50 

13-44 

805 

96 

23 

170 

49 

13.16 

790 

92 

24 

173 

48 

12.9 

775 

90 

^l 

177 

47 

12.6 

760 

85 

26 

181 

46 

12.3 

740 

80 

27 

185 

45 

12. 

725 

77 

28 

189 

44 

11.82 

710 

74 

29 

194 

43 

11.51 

690 

72 

30 

198 

42 

11.29 

675 

68 

4©  ROLLER     CARD, 


ROLLER  CARD. 

The  roller  card  which  is  the  best  for  dyed  cottons,  and 
for  quantity  of  work,  will  excel  all  others  of  which  there  are 
a  great  variety  and  choice,  each  of  them  having  somepartic- 
ular  claim,  for  the  construction  they  have  put  upon  them,  and 
originality  of  design  by  which  they  intend  should  improve 
the  carding,  or  displace  some  of  the  more  primative  methods 
by  its  obvious  and  pecuniary  merits,  which  are  deserving 
of  particular  attention,  and  should  be  encouraged  in  their 
efforts  in  trying  to  get  at  greater  perfection  of  work,  than 
a  mere  novelty  oi gi?n-cracks  to  keep  in  repair,  of  which  I 
am  sorry  to  say  there  has  been  too  many  recently,  in  fact, 
to  superfluity  and  would  bring  any  manufacturer  to  ruin,  if 
he  would  go  to  the  expense  of  testing  them  by  experiment, 
which  always  costs  money  and  loss  of  time,  when  they  are 
proved  to  be  of  more  humbug  than  real  service,  and  this 
leaves  you  to  repent.  We  are  apt  to  get  confused  by  the 
many  recommendations  presented  to  us  from  individual 
manufacturers  and  large  corporations  who  have  endorsed 
by  their  signatures,  and  which  these  solicitous  drummers 
are  so  ready  of  presentment  to  sanction  what  they  repre- 
sent, and  the  anxious  desire  to  get  an  order  for  their  ma- 
chines and  auxilliary  appliances  too  numerous  to  mention. 
Now  this  roller  card  has  instead  of  flats  what  are  called 
workers  and  strippers,  made  in  roller  form  and  of  iron,  on 
which  fillet  is  wound  around  in  a  spiral  manner,  like  the 
doffer  before  described,  their  axles  extending  through  and 
resting  on  bearings  attached  to  the  arches,  and  by  the  same 
can  be  adjusted  by  screws,  bringing  their  surface  in  con- 
tact with  cylinder  and  each  other,  and  by  having  different  ve- 
locities the  cotton  fibres  are  received  and  given  out  to  be 
teased  and  torn  asunder  as  the  quality  of  stock  requires,  and 


ROLLER     CARD.  4I 


advancing  toward  the  doffer  as  they  become  loosened,  and 
laid  parallel  by  the  action  of  the  reciprocating  rollers,  in 
opposition  to  the  greater  force  which  the  cylinder  meets 
them,  carrying  with  it  the  already  prepared  fibres  which  are 
stripped  off  by  the  doffer;  the  cards  are  usually  supplied 
with  a  lickerin  for  the  purpose  of  assisting  the  cylinder, 
which  would  have  too  much  labor  by  so  great  a  quantity 
of  cotton  being  presented  and  put  through  the  card,  al- 
though this  licker-in  is  objectionable  in  other  respects  (be- 
fore mentioned),  for  it  is  at  this  place  where  most  of  the 
carding  could  be  done,  if  properly  held,  of  which  the  licker- 
in has  no  claim;  it  has  one;  though  of  assisting  in  the  re- 
moval of  any  dirt  or  hard  knots  which  the  beaters  or 
scutchers  have  failed  in  doing,  it  being  placed  in  such  a 
favorable  position,  and  rotating  suitably  for  performing 
such  work,  and  not  until  a  better  plan  is  brought  out,  can 
this  licker-in  be  dispensed  with  altogether,  the  removal  of 
moats  might  be  accomplished  by  placing  over  the  feed  roller  a 
few  grate  bars  that  can  be  set  at  any  angle  or  distance,  to 
suit  the  tangential  force  the  cylinder  may  have  which 
will  be  according  to  velocity  of  cylinder,  this  appliance 
would  have  to  be  carefully  enclosed  with  a  box  to  receive 
all  the  trash,  and  that  would  be  almost  all  there  was  in  the 
cotton,  for  this  is  the  most  available  place  on  the  card 
where  such  an  appliance  could  be  used.  There  is  a  roller 
and  sometimes  two,  called  dirt  rollers,  fixed  over  the  lick- 
er-in to  an  ;wer  this  purpose,  but  they  do  not  do  the  work 
effectually,  their  wires  incline  against  those  of  the  cylinder 
driving  the  leaf  and  shells  into  these  from  the  cotton; 
these  rollers  revolve  the  same  way  as  the  cylinder,  and 
their  velocity  like  a  worker,  and  sometimes  slower;  there 
is  and  has  been  a  great  many  gim-cracks  for  this  purpose, 
among  these,  also,  may  be  included  one  of  stripping  un- 


42  ROLLER     CARD, 


derneath  with  two  rollers.     I  think  a  fancy  would  be  more 
valuable  in  their  stead  underneath,  and  would  help  to  keep 
the  cylinder  sharp  and  clean  if  properly  applied;  this  idea 
of  stripping  underneath  and  being  stripped  in  return,  and 
then  let  go  in  again  is  a  poor  recommendation  for  making 
good  yarns;  there  is  a  point  of  economy  shown  by  it,  but 
its  worth  is  false,  by  making  that  which  would  have  been 
good,  is  worthless.     It  will  be  in  dull  times  that  we  shall 
see  all  these  evils  coming  against  us,  and  those  that  have 
guarded  against  them  will  be  safe  at  all  times,  and  demand 
their  price  regardless  of  the  market.     For  our  standard  to 
quality  must  not  be  interfered  with,  nor  depreciated  by 
these  everlasting  novelties,  unless  they  insure  a  guarantee 
of  improvement  of  facilitating  or  economizing  the  same. 
Now  the  wire  on  this  licker-in,  cylinder,  clearers  and  dirt 
rollers  should  be  nailed  on  the  same  way  as  they  revolve, 
the  others  all  incline  reverse  to  their  revolving  motion. 
The  speeds  of  these  rollers  are  generally  calculated  and 
made  constant  with  the  cylinder  by  the  machine  maker, 
but  this  speed  is  not  to  be  invariably  so.     Yet  they  are 
seldom  ever  changed.     The  cylinder  on  this  kind  of  card 
may  have  a  greater  surface  velocity  than  the  flat  card  has, 
•  o  that  it  may  lash  the  fibres  into  the  wire  of  those  opposed 
to  it ;  exercising  a  greater  amount  of  teasing  and  loosening 
of  the  fibres,  when  assisted  by  the  doffer  running  slow  and 
the  workers  moving  fast,   but  this  speed  of  workers  and 
doffers  should    be   inversely  proportional  to  numbers  of 
yarn,  that  is  the  higher  the  count  the  slower  the  speed  of 
them  both,|and  a  moderate  draught  that  will  assist  in  keep- 
ing the  cylinder  clean,  so  that  the  fibres  may  be  saved  by 
being  elongated,  and  getting  in  the  spaces  of  wire,  instead 
of  laying  on  the  surface  to  be  tortured,  and  made  into  fly 
for  want  of  room  amongst   the  teeth,  which  can  all  be 


ROLLER     CARD,  43 


avoided  by  careful  watching,  in  order  to  get  the  required 
velocities  which  are  needed  on  the  stock  you  are  using 
preventing  wire  from  being  all  choked  up. 

From  the  schedule  for  this  roller  card  the  relative  speeds 
are  for  a  forty  inch  cylinder,  1500  feet  per  minute,  and, 
the  doffer  840  inches  per  minute,  having  90  of  a  draught 
with  a  11.22  oz.  lap  to  one  yard,  making  a  sliver  .16  hank, 
or  52  grains  to  one  yard;  these  are  especially  for  No. 
2o's  yarn  only,  and  the  surface  velocity  of  workers  is  3/3  of 
the  doffer,  and  the  lickerin  is  one-half  of  the  cylinder, 
the  strippers  is  ^  of  cylinder,  and  if  a  fancy  is  used  under- 
neath it  might  run  1 700  feet  per  minute. 

We  have  found  by  experience  if  the  cylinder  as  a  greater 
velocity  than  the  above,  it  gives  out  more  fibres  to  be  tossed 
in  a  turbulent  manner  over  and  around  the  rollers  under 
the  enclosed  cover,  which  ultimately  collects  and  forms  in 
rolls  and  balls,  at  last  dropping  by  their  own  gravity  on 
to  the  rollers,  and  going  through  in  that  condition,  making 
a  cloud  in  the  web,  and  often  breaking  it  down,  causing  a 
thick  place  in  the  sliver  which  will  show  itself  wiien  made 
into  any  kind  of  a  fabric,  but  it  is  often  detected  before 
being  spun,  for  they  cause  a  good  deal  of  waste  to  be  made 
by  breaking  down  in  the  various  machines  it  has  to  pass 
through,  being  a  source  of  trouble  all  the  time  unless 
pulled  out  and  thrown  m  the  waste  can,  to  be  worked  up 
over  again. 

I  would  prefer  doffers  of  large  diameters,  in  order  to 
have  a  less  number  of  revolutions,  and  because  of  there 
being  a  greater  surface  presented  to  cylinder,  taking  more 
fibres  with  it  when  clearing  the  cylinder  of  its  work,  which 
will  prevent  in  a  measure  too  much  fly  and  waste,  and  the 
cylinder  from  getting  chocked  up.  I  hold  the  same  opin- 
ion regarding   the  workers,  because  the  fibres  of  cotton 


44  ROLLER    CARD, 


will  be  lashed  in  more ;  it  is  also  important  to  have  the 
cylinder  covered  with  filletting  instead  of  sheets,  causing 
less  commotion  of  air  under  cover,  for  the  sheets  act  as  a 
fan  when  the  cylinder  has  increased  speed,  we  are  also  bene- 
fited by  getting  more  wire  on  its  surface  by  dispensing 
with  the  interstices  between  the  sheets. 

But  for  a  flat  card,  I  don't  think  fillet  is  so  good  as 
sheets  on  account  of  there  being  no  revolving  action  with 
flats,  opposing  the  cylinder  surface  to  start  or  raise  the 
continuous  fleece  of  cotton,  which  will  accumulate  and  make 
neps  and  form  in  rolls  for  the  want  of  something  to  start 
it  like  a  fancy  does,  so  it  is  obvious  here  the  preferment 
to  sheets  over  filletting,  by  the  interstices  which  cause  a 
start  and  allow  the  doffer  to  take  its  compliment  of  fibres 
regularly,  and  in  ratio  with  the  feed  rollers  after  being 
attenuated  to  the  extent  of  the  draught. 

The  card  will  do  104  pounds  per  day  of  \^n  hours  on 
this  particular  number  of  counts  that  is  20's  yarn,  and  show 
greater  strength  of  sliver  with  less  condensing  than  any 
other  card  will,  saving  waste  and  facilitating  its  progress 
up  to  a  certain  point,  and  then  the  flat  card  supercedes  it, 
because  its  fibres  are  laid  more  parallel  and  condensed, 
and  making  it  more  favorable  for  attenuating  to  firmness 
and  producing  a  higher  number  of  counts,  everything  else 
being  equal,  yet  I  believe  up  to  these  counts  of  yarn,  the 
roller  card  would  be  found  to  have  the  most  economy  in 
it,  and  produce  the  best  results,  taking  it  altogether. 

We  will  compare  their  production,  and  show  the  diff"er- 
ence  between  the  flat  card  and  roller  card  :  Flat  card, 
doffer  velocity,  420  inches  per  minute.  Roller  card, 
doffer  velocity,  840  inches  per  minute ;  the  sliver  of  flat 
card  weighing  40  grains  equals  .  208  hank ;  the  sliver  of 
roller  card  weighing   52  grains,  equals  .16  hank.     The 


ROLLER    CARD.  45 


number  of  inches  divided  by  50,  will  equal  number  of 
hanks  for  lo  hours,  and  number  of  hanks  divided  by  hank 
sliver,  equal  number  of  pounds  for  10  hours.  Flat  card, 
420  in.  divided  by  50,  equal  8.4hanks  divided  by.  208,  equal 
40  pounds.  Roller  card,  840  in.  divided  by  50,  equal  16.6 
hanks  divided  by  .16,  equal  104  pounds  per  day.  The 
ratio  being  104  divided  by  40,  equal  2.6  flat  cards  for  one 
roller  card,  this  consuming  y^  horse-power  and  the  flat 
card,  .25  horse-power,  then  Y  equal  .65  horse-power,  so 
the  difference  in  favor  of  roller  card  would  be  .65  minus 
.5  equal .  15  per  cent,  in  power,  according  to  equal  quantity 
in  weight  in  pounds  per  day. 

The  investment  will  be  less ;  there  will  be  a  small  per- 
centage in  loss  of  time  for  stripping  and  cleaning,  the  cost 
of  labor  and  incidental  expenses,  conjointly,  will  be  more 
on  the  whole  than  the  flat  card  will  be ;  its  favor  will 
only  extend  up  to  No.  20'syarn,  for  the  preparation  is  not 
such  that  will  warrant  high  speeds  and  larger  draughts  re- 
quired for  finer  counts,  but  on  the  whole  you  can  spin  the 
specified  numbers  cheaper  with  the  roller  card  than  other- 
ways,  by  the  great  amount  of  work  which  this  card  can 
produce  by  its  {niodus  operandi),  giving  us  convincing 
proof  when  looking  at  the  web,  as  it  is  combed  from  the 
rapid  surface  of  doffer,  both  clean  and  well-collected,  form- 
ing a  sliver  of  great  strength  by  the  tenacity  of  its  fibres 
which  are  the  constitutive  principles  of  this  card,  created 
by  the  revolving  rollers  and  their  relative  velocities,  caus- 
ing a  contraction  and  then  a  distention  of  the  volume  of 
fibres,  which  are  taken  up  successively  by  them  from  the 
cylinder  and  returned  again  to  be  repeatedly  distended, 
and  straightened  out  lengthwise  amongst  the  wires,  and 
those  which  have  been  driven  by  the  centrifugal  force 
on  to  the  workers  and  not  yet  disentangled,  revolve  round 


46  ROLLER    CARD, 


to  be  teased  out,  when  they  again  come  in  contact  with 
the  wire  points  of  a  superior  force,  tearing  and  loosening 
them  to  be  carried  forward  along  with  some  that  are  still 
tortuous  and  short,  for  you  will  perceive  that  the  fibres 
left  floating  on  the  surface  of  these  rollers  not  already 
straightened,  will  conform  to  their  own  whims  and  become 
a  little  more  tortuous  than  when  they  are  kept  under  the 
scanty  space  of  cylinder  and  flats,  which  give  them  a  more 
positive  distention. 

But  the  point  at  issue  is  this — that  these  short  and  tortu- 
ous fibres  that  have  gone  along,  help,  by  a  process  of  linking 
with  each  other  towards  giving  the  sliver  that  strength  and 
tenacity  before  mentioned,  we  must  bear  in  mind  that  we 
are  working  an  inferior  cotton,  and  that  the  sooner  it  gets 
out  of  the  card  the  better,  if  cleaned  and  loosened  enough 
for  the  straightening  will  be  sufficient,  for  these  counts  and 
class  of  cottons  required,  which  will  not  stand  such  an 
amount  of  carding,  as  the  longer  and  strong  fibre  will.  I 
have  already  set  the  dofl"er  velocity  at  double  the  speed  of 
a  flat  card  doffer,  when  making  this  same  counts,  and  will 
be  found  not  overrated.  Knowing  at  the  same  time  that 
the  shorter  or  le;s  the  length  delivered  by  the  doffer,  is 
supposed  to  improve  the  quality  of  work  or  carding,  it  is 
also  expensive  to  do  so,  and  will  not  permit  of  it  unless 
you  are  remunerated  for  your  loss  of  time  and  waste  in 
the  price  of  your  yarn.  I  think  if  you  will  refer  at  all 
times  to  the  schedule,  and  work  as  close  to  it  as  possible, 
you  will  come  out  safe,  although  there  are  some  kinds  of 
cotton,  which  might  cause  a  deviation  from  it,  but  this 
must  be  a  secondary  trial.  I  will  give  you  here  the  diff'erent 
velocities  from  the  cylinder  and  doff"er. 
The  Cylinder  goes  1937  in.  for  i  in.  of  feed. 
The  Lickerin,  968  in.  for  i  in.  "       '' 

The  Doff"er,  90  in.  for  i  in.  "      " 


ROLLER     CARD.  47 


The  Comb  i  i-i6in.  1400  strokes  per  minute. 

The  Doffer,  840  in. 

The  Cylinder,  1500  feet  "         " 

"         do  64  in.  for  i  in.  of  worker. 

**         do  21-5  in.  for  i  in.  of  doffer. 

"do  4  in.  for  i  in.  of  strippers. 

"         do  2  in.  for  i  in.  of  lickerin. 

"         do  I  in.  for  1-16  in.  of  Fancy. 

This  cylinder  is  40  in.  x  40  in.  and  makes  143  revolu- 
tions per  minute.  Where  this  card  is  in  use,  and  has  two 
(2)  rollers  underneath  the  lickerin,  the  middle  one  may  be 
set  up  to  lickerin  and  cylinder,  but  the  lower  one  should 
be  covered  with  fancy  wire,  being  the  same  numbers,  or 
thickness  ot  wire  as  the  cylinder,  but  not  so  closely  set  in 
the  fillet ;  this  will  help  the  carding  materially,  and  it 
should  have  a  good  clearance  to  throw  its  brushings  on  the 
floor.  I  have  been  thoroughly  convinced  of  the  efficiency 
of  this  roller,  by  making  two  good  points,  and  requires 
but  little  attention  for  the  work  it  performs.  I  would  also 
recommend  good  strong  diamond-pointed  wire  for  the 
lickerin,  it  being  the  most  serviceable  for  doing  such  work 
at  that  velocity.  You  will  see  from  the  schedule  that  I 
have  made  a  special  draught  to  be  used  for  all  numbers 
imder  20's,  and  a  special  lap  to  be  used  for  each  number 
of  counts. 

The  speed  of  doffer  varies  with  the  counts  also,  but 
not  in  ratio  with  the  numbers,  as  is  usually  done  with  cards 
having  the  coilers  attached,  which  is  done  usually  by  pro- 
portion, by  a  change  pinion  having  its  motion  direct  from 
cylinder  ;  this  change  being  modified  from  a  compound 
of  the  weight  and  length  to  suit  a  constant  draught,  by 
which  the  manipulation  will  better  correspond  with  the 
counts  to  be  made  by  an  alteration  of  weight  of  sliver  and 


48  RAILWAY     HEAD. 


lap,  and  the  speed  of  doffer  inversely  to  counts,  and  which  is 
entirely  too  rapid  for  connecting  a  railway  trough  and  head, 
the  delivery  being  840  in.  per  minute  from  the  doffer  on 
these  No.  20' s,  giving  us  double  the  length  of  the  surface 
velocity  of  back  roller  which  runs  on  the  railway  head ; 
"hence,"  we  are  compelled  to  use  the  coilers,  if  the 
quantity  of  work  must  be  kept  up  according  to  the  sche- 
dule ;  so  we  will  make  no  exception  to  this,  and  by 
dispensmg  with  railway  head,  if  the  usual  two  drawing 
heads  are  not  sufificient  in  getting  the  sliver  even  and  the 
fibres  parallel,  we  shall  be  obliged  to  resort  to  an  additional 
drawing  head.  We  must  examine  this  closely  and  see 
whether  our  stock  or  class  of  cotton  will  admit  of  this 
extra  doubling  or  not,  for  it  is  here  that  you  must  decide 
to  sink  or  swim  from  the  effects  at  this  point,  which  your 
preparation  will  have  on  the  sliver,  if  it  becomes  lumpy, 
its  value  is  irreparable. 

RAILWA  y    HEAD. 

Now  comes  the  railway  head,  an  auxilliary  machine  to 
the  cards,  for  assisting  and  reducing  the  large  volume  of 
sliver  so  formed  by  a  collective  number  of  them  going  up 
to  the  back  roller  in  mass.  This  roller  must  have  a  surface 
velocity  equ:il  to  the  doffer  of  flat  card — 420  in.  per 
minute,  in  order  to  keep  the  tension  right.  There  are  four 
lines  of  rollers  on  this  head,  having  interstices  1*6  in.  from 
fourth  to  third  roller,  and  ii^  in.  from  third  to  second  rol- 
ler, and  I16  in.  from  second  to  front  roller,  with  a  draught 
of  3-  75  when  belt  is  m  centre  of  cones  ;  then,  if  the  whole 
weight  of  slivers  from  cards  is  to  be  360  grains  for  all 
numbers  of  yarn,  we  can  easily  find  the  number  of  cards 
to  one  section  from  the  weight  of  card  sliver,  for  No.  20's 


RAILWAYHEAD.  49 


is  40  grains,  then  ^%  eqiuls  9  cards  to  i  section,  arriving 
at  a  system  which  will  commend  itself  highly  by  giving  us 
the  proportionate  doubling  and  draughts  for  the  counts  to 
be  manufactured  ;  here  is  the  sliver  from  railway  head 
— 1^5  equals  96  grains  to  i  yard.  How  simple  and  how 
good  is  this  method,  for  this  is  a  weight  that  is  tenable  with 
the  leather  rollers  and  with  ordinary  attention  will  hardly 
ever  be  seen  to  cut,  by  having  a  volume  so  well  proportioned 
to  its  work.  This  sliver  is  expected  to  be  made  from  a 
web  having  smooth  selvedges,  and  the  hole  in  trumpet  to 
be  of  an  oval  shape  that  will  prevent  the  sliver  from  being 
of  a  tape  like  form,  and  che  condensing  of  it  must  have  par- 
ticular attention,  there  being  two  things  to  be  considered, 
one  is  to  give  it  sufficient  strength,  and  the  other  to  allow 
the  rollers  in  drawing  ff  ame  to  attenuate  it  without  an  ex- 
cessive weight  on  them.  I  have  given  the  draught  oi  rail- 
way head  2,-TSy  ^^'t  '^^  i^  reasonable  that  you  should  know 
how  I  get  at  this  and  not  let  it  be  thought  a  guess.  No;  it 
is  derived  from  a  rule,  which  answers  for  four  lines  of  rol- 
lers— sq.  rt.  of  64  multiplied  by  hanksliver  to  be  made  which 
is  96  grains  equal  .087  hank,  so  64  by  .087  and  then  extract 
the  square  root  will  give  2.4  draught  for  front  and  second 
rollers,  and  then  multiply  this  2.4  by  1.56  a  constant  num- 
ber for  the  other  two  {2)  draughts,  then  the  product  will  be 
2.4  by  1.56  equal  3.75  the  whole  draught  and  as  the  hank 
sliver  varies  so  does  the  draught  between  the  front  and  second 
rollers,  the  alteration  being  altogether  with  these  two  rol- 
lers coinciding  with  the  action  of  the  evener  as  the  tension 
varies  in  the  trumpet,  moving  the  cone  belt  laterally  to 
correspond  with  it  and  the  required  draught,  so  that  the 
sliver  may  at  all  times  be  one  weight  of  96  grains,  and  to 
obtain  this  requires  some  precision  for  the  instant  the  ten- 
sion acts  on  the  trumpet,  the  dog  should  drop  in  the  ratchet 


50  RAILWAY    HEAD 


wheel  and  not  have  to  keep  struggling,  as  it  were,  by  there 
being  too  much  surface  on  the  quadrant  extending  beyond 
the  point  of  dogs,  which  will  cause  a  difference  of  pressure 
on  the  trumpet  to  throw  them  in  gear,  leaving  the  change 
in  sliver  go,  before  the  evener  has  acted  at  all,  such  blun- 
dering as  this  is  a  serious  matter,  and  must  be  remedied 
by  filing  off  these  extensions  on  the  quadrant,  leaving  such 
a  distance  (by  the  stripping  off  a  light  sliver  with  your 
fingers  at  the  back),  will  allow  the  dog  to  drop  in  the 
ratchet,  but  do  not  be  so  precise  as  to  leave  the  evener  al- 
ways on  a  move.  There  is  also  a  dog  on  the  shaft  to  which 
the  trumpet  is  attached,  having  two  (2)  points  at  right  angles 
that  come  in  contact  with  the  front  of  roller  beam,  and  the 
distance  of  these  points  from  it,  should  only  be  such  as 
will  give  the  lever  that  angular  velocity  to  allow  the  dog 
on  the  quadrant  drop  off,  in  the  ratchet,  leaving  you  only 
the  nature  of  the  atmosphere  to  regulate  against.  This 
machine  has  traces  of  evil  as  well  as  good  qualities,  there 
must  be  a  portion  of  evil  go  through  before  it  can  be  recti- 
fied and  made  good,  for  the  former  is  the  governor  and  will 
evidently  show  up  its  imperfections  at  a  disadvantage  when 
the  changes  are  quick  and  transient,  but  other  ways,  its 
good  qualities  overbalances  the  evil  ones  and  leaves  us  yet 
in  favor  of  its  usefulness  and  will  hang  on  to  it  until  some- 
thing better  turns  up  as  an  improvement.  Now  if  this 
change  of  tension  could  be  given  to  evenerhtioxt  it  reaches 
the  back  roller,  we  might  sanction  it  a  complete  machine 
and  is  worth  trying  to  accomplish  by  its  necessity,  and 
any  one  would  be  amply  rewarded  for  his  genius,  if  pro- 
tected by  patent  right.  The  rollers  of  this  machine  are 
generally  shell,  covered  with  leather  and  weighted  at  the 
ends,  having  wood  saddles,  each  one  straddling  (2)  rollers  ; 
over  the  centre  of  the  interstice,  hangs  a  stirrup  on  the 


RAILWAY     HEAD.  51 


saddle,  going  through  a  hole  in  the  beam  and  attached  to 
a  lever  underneath,  connected  to  that,  is  the  other  lever 
for  the  other  (2)  rollers,  the  whole  weight  being  given  by 
another  lever  attached,  on  which  hangs  the  weight,  and 
can  be  moved  into  different  notches  to  give  the  required 
pressure,  which  should  be  about  240  lbs.  altogether,  on 
rollers. 

The  condensing  of  the  sliver  is  assisted  by  the  calender 
rolls  in  union  with  the  narrow  slit  of  trumpet,  being  care- 
ful not  to  have  too  much  pressure  on  these  calendar  rolls, 
which  I  previously  remarked  ;  over  these  leathei  rollers  is 
placed  a  wood  clearer  covered  with  flannel  to  keep  them 
clean,  and  loose  fibres  from  lapping  around  them,  there  is 
also  a  clearer  used  underneath  the  first  and  second  fluted 
rollers  to  prevent  the  loose  loose  fibres  from  lapping  on 
them ;  this  is  held  up  by  a  counter-weight,  fastened  to  a 
lace  whose  other  end  is  fast  to  clearer,  and  pulled  up  close 
by  the  velocity  of  front  roller  on  which  the  lace  rests,  and 
in  placing  the  dish  for  cotton  can  to  stand  in,  let  the  inside 
edge  of  cati.  when  vertical,  be  under  the  centre  of  calen- 
der rolls,  with  a  rotation  of  about  50  feet  per  minute,  this 
motion  ought  to  be  very  slow  in  order  to  prevent  the  sliver 
from  twisting  so  when  going  under  the  roller  of  the  next 
machine,  which  makes  it  troublesome  at  times  on  account 
of  its  volume  being  so  large  and  turning  on  its  edge,  raises 
it  off  the  other  sliver  that  is  under  the  same  boss,  and  loses 
its  traction  going  through  in  chunks. 

Under  the  roller  card  system  we  are  obliged  to  use 
coilers,  which  are  attached  to  the  card  for  the  purpose  of 
conveying  the  sliver  into  a  ca7i,  as  it  leaves  the  doffer  this 
arrangement,  is  a  section  of  itself  and  independent  of  any 
contingencies  that  may  happen  to  others  beside  it,  and  in 
this  respect  it  is  superior  to  the  other  plan.     It  is  on   ac- 


52  RAILWAY     HEAD, 


count  of  the  great  length  of  sliver  given  out  per  min- 
ute from  the  doffer  that  we  have  to  apply  §uch  a  useful 
compact  and  neat  machine,  requiring  little  attention 
and  packing  it  in  the  can  in  such  beautiful  coils 
preserving  the  fibre  from  any  disturbing  element  also  con- 
densing them  and  making  the  sliver  in  a  better  condition 
for  drawing,  but  there  is  a  little  more  labor  attending  to 
this  system,  by  having  to  handle  so  many  cans,  they  gen- 
erally being  of  smaller  capacity,  causing  them  to  run  out 
and  fill  up  faster,  hence  the  extra  labor  in  removal.  Now 
this  coiler  is  capable  of  doing  a  large  amount  of  work  for 
which  it  is  adapted,  that  of  packing  cotton  into  the 
cans,  but  it  is  not  required  here  alone,  the  card  only 
having  to  do  about  half  the  quantity,  it  does  at  the  drawing 
frames. 

It  will  be  necessary  to  explain  how  the  can  must  be 
placed  so  that  the  coiler  may  fill  this  can  to  the  best 
advantage,  both  in  quantity  and  quality,  with  as  little  dis- 
turbance of  the  fibres,  as  possible.  We  will  call  the 
diameter  of  coiler  8  in.,  and  from  the  centre  to  the  inside 
of  hole  2^^  in.,  adding  to  this  ^  in.  for  the  thickness  of 
sliver,  making  the  throw  3  in.  altogether;  after  this  has  been 
ascertained,  we  will  fit  an  inch  strip  of  wood  across  the  plate 
the  coiler  revolves  in,  and  get  the  centre  of  coiler  here,  we 
must  know  the  diameter  of  can,  we  will  call  it  9  in.  inside, 
then  the  radii  will  be  4^^  in.,  and  from  this  you  subtract 
the  throw  of  coiler,  then  4^^  in.,  minus  3  in.  leaves  a  differ- 
ence of  i^  in.  to  be  set  out  from  the  centre  of  coiler.  We 
have  already  found  the  centre  of  coiler  on  this  strip  of 
wood,  then  measure  off  i^  in.  from  this  centre  towards 
the  front,  you  will  then  bore  a  small  hole  through  the 
strip  at  this  point  to  admit  of  a  string  being  passed 
through,  on   this  is  a  plumb-bob  below,  giving  you  the 


RAILWAY     HEAD.  53 


exact' centre  of  the  can-dish  which  must  be  set  perfectly 
level  in  order  to  give  the  can  a  true  vertical  position ; 
these  cans  are  generally  3  feet  long,  but  to  give  them  a 
good  clearance  when  removing  them,  you  must  let  the 
dish  be  3  feet  i^  in.  below  the  coiler;  by  doing  this,  you 
save  the  minder  a  great  deal  of  labor.  The  coiler  must 
have  sixteen  revolutions,  for  the  can,  one,  or  thereabouts ; 
it  is  usual  for  the  machine  maker  to  fix  that,  and  it  is  well 
to  know  anyhow  for  future  changes  which  may  arise.  This 
explanation  will  probably  be  sufficient  for  all  practical 
purposes,  without  going  into  the  abstract  of  this  ingenious 
machine;  it  is  admired  by  a  majority  for  its  labor-saving 
propensities,  and  disregarded  by  the  minority,  by  having 
a  surplus  of  mechanical  appliances  to  the  detriment  of 
its  work,  and  keeping  in  repair  these  superfluous  devices, 
when  the  work  can  be  done  without  them,  but  not  so 
neatly  as  they  do,  with  such  little  waste  and  less  expense. 
It  is  like  most  other  machines,  they  can  use  them  best, 
that  have  been  trained  up  to  them;  for  it  is  the  help  when 
taking  this  view  of  it,  that  puts  in  a  particular  claim  on 
its  virtues. 


54 


RAILWAY    HEAD. 


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THE     DRAWING     FRAME.  55 


THE    DRAWING    FRAME. 

The  drawing  frame  is  the  next  machine  in  order  in  the 
manipulation,  or  what  is  termed  in  the  preparation  of 
middling  counts,  it  is  intended  to  draw  and  even  the 
sliver  by  doubling  2,  4,  6,  or  8  ends  according  to  the  fine- 
ness, and  quality  of  yarn  required,  and  then  lengthened 
out  by  the  roller  to  any  amount  desired,  this  is  done  by 
each  successive  roller  revolving  faster  than  the  back  roller, 
and  producing  a  length  approximating  to  the  number  of 
hank  sliver,  which  is  done  by  the  draught.  We  have  a 
variety  in  kind  and  construction,  and  you  will  have  to 
decide  which  of  them  will  best  perform  this  drawing ;  we 
have  machines  with  5  line  of  rollers,  and  4  lines,  and  3 
lines,  their  being  a  draught  between  every  line  of  rollers. 
We  have  also  a  frame  having  4  line  of  rollers,  with  only 
two  draughts,  that  is  the  fourth  and  third  line  have  a  draught, 
it  is  then  drawn  through  a  guide  made  so,  as  to  contract 
it  a  little  before  going  through  second  roller,  but  has  received 
no  extension  from  third  to  second  until  the  front  roller 
gives  it  another  extension  or  draught ;  these  are  called 
double  draughts.  On  the  other  frame  of  4  line  rollers, 
we  have  three  draughts  by  them,  all  being  set  at  proper 
intervals,  and  making  a  whole  draught.  Then  there  is  the 
5  line  of  roller  frame,  which  has  three  draughts,  but 
similar  to  the  4  line,  having  double  draughts  in  its  working, 
and  is  a  first-class  drawing  frame,  and  if  this  style  of 
drawing  frame  was  made  so  that  the  4  line  of  rollers  would 
start  simultaneously,  the  drawing  would  be  free  from  cuts 
in  starting  and  stopping  the  machine,  neither  would  there 
be  any  when  it  was  running,  there  being  only  two  rollers 
used  for  a  sectional  draught ;  there  is  then  a  space  of 
several  inches  intervenes  before  going  through  the  front 


56  THE    DRAWING    FRAME. 

section ;  in  this  space  the  web  is  collected  and  drawn 
through  a  traverse  guide  that  condenses  it ;  there  should 
be  no  draught  at  all  in  this  space,  but  it  is  extended  by  the 
front  section  to  the  required  draught,  the  product  of  the 
front  and  back  sections  making  a  whole  draught,  with  an 
additional  fraction  by  the  calender  rolls.  The  preference 
of  this  method  over  the  other  is  this :  Where  there  are 
several  rollers  and  draughts  connected  with  the  whole 
draught,  the  preceding  one  interferes  with  the  making  of 
regular  drawing,  by  its  being  attenuated  and  spreading  on 
the  rollers  as  it  advances,  causing  the  fibres  to  loose  their 
tenacity,  and  by  the  interval  being  so  great,  causes  the 
sliver  to  break,  and  through  its  dispersion  makes  irregular 
and  cloudy  drawing,  because  in  the  very  act  of  drawing, 
the  slivers  volume  increases  at  the  moment  it  is  suffering 
this  extension,  for  the  fibres  rush  out  like  rays  of  light,  un- 
der the  sudden  action  of  drawing  rollers,  freeing  themselves 
from  the  compact  received  by  condensation,  and  if  allowed 
to  advance  under  another  series  of  rollers,  without  being 
condensed,  is  simply  ruinous  to  the  sliver  ;  this  is  the  great 
objection  to  a  series  of  rollers,  but  it  can  be  ameliorated 
some  by  reducing  the  preceding  draughts  to  a  minimum, 
and  letting  the  front  and  second  do  the  maximum,  there 
is  then  an  excess  on  these  two  rollers,  and  would  be  done 
much  better  by  the  double  draughts,  although  this  method 
is  supposed  to  relieve  these  exceptions,  by  the  loosening 
and  better  preparing  it  for  the  front  roller,  to  execute  this 
extra  work  imposed  upon  it,  and  may  be  seen  at  work  in 
every  cotton  mill,  there  being  a  majority  of  these  kind 
used,  and  almost  universal.  But  that  don't  satisfy  and 
break  up  my  argument ;  the  public  opinion,  and  their 
choice  of  these  machines,  gives  no  reason  why  I  should 
not  differ  with  everybody  else,  if  I   have  found  a  more 


THE    DRAWING     FRAME.  57 

reliable  theory,  and  practice  to  back  me  up,  and  that  which 
I  have  before  propounded  and  which  I  think  is  a  part  of 
the  true  science  of  drawing,  and  on  this  principle  is  the 
art  of  cotton  spinning  carried  out,  for  by  twisting  we  can 
conceive  the  idea  of  having  the  sliver  condensed,  showing 
how,  by  the  friction  of  the  fibres,  they  are  held  to  be  drawn 
out  in  a  manner  that  is  consistent  with  the  principle  of 
systematic  drawing,  and  I  think  any  other  theory  pro- 
pounded, will  not  give  such  satisfactory  results,  as  the 
principle  already  explained,  for  by  properly  understanding 
this  theory,  as  you  can  easily  prove  by  experiment  and  will 
no  doubt  convince  you  that  this  is  the  key  note  to  strike 
for  making  good  yarns.  Yes,  it  is  a  panacea  for  all  its  ills, 
when  properly  applied.  But  now  we  have  come  to  the 
skill  and  judgement  required  in  the  application,  or  adjust- 
ments, of  the  intervals,  and  weights,  and  volumes,  also  the 
nature  and  state  of  the  cotton  to  be  manipulated  so  care- 
fully, these  are  the  essential  points,  and  can  only  be  applied 
by  them  who  are  familiar  with  their  workings,  to  place 
them  in  their  true  positions,  so  as  to  produce  the  desired 
effect,  which  is  a  cloudless  and  clear  sliver,  with  the  fibr  s 
close  and  straight  to  each  other,  brought  forth  in  a  lucid 
like  manner.  The  arranging  of  the  draughts  are  to  be 
considered  also,  and  this  depends  how  far  the  cotton  has 
advanced  in  its  riband-like  process.  For  I  presume  to  say, 
that  we  should  have  small  draughts  to  commence  with, 
when  the  cotton  is  not  fairly  straightened  out,  and  must  be 
done  when  it  is  an  untwisted  sliver  in  a  careful  manner, 
and  by  so  doing  we  shall  then  be  at  liberty  to  increase 
the  draughts  all  along  in  every  progressive  machine, 
having  the  greatest  on  the  mule  or  spinning  frame. 
I  have  endeavored  to  show  you  my  view  of  the  ma- 
chine,   that    would    be    most   suitable    to    perform    this 


58  THE    DRAWING     FRAME. 

elongation,  but  you  must  understand  it  is  in  a  great 
measure  depending  how  the  functions  of  this  most  impor- 
tant machine  are  arranged  and  applied.  It  is  not  to  be 
inferred,  because  you  paid  a  big  price  for  it,  and  was  made 
by  such  an  eminent  and  celebrated  machine  maker,  that 
you  are  possessed  of  such  a  one  that  will  insure  you  perfect 
drawing,  without  considering  how  the  functions  of  this 
machine  are  to  be  adapted  to  the  class  of  work  it  has  to 
perform.  It  is  generally  supposed  that  the  machine  maker 
has  furnished  all  that  is  necessary  for  making  the  drawing  ; 
and  I  have  found  it  just  as  customary,  for  those  who  have 
the  charge  and  running  of  them,  to  think  it  an  act  of  mal- 
feasance for  any  importune  suggestions  or  casual  remarks, 
as  to  making  some  change  before  you  commence  operating 
with  it,  no  matter  how  beneficial  they  might  be.  It  is 
utterly  disregarded,  for  their  confidence  would  be  mis- 
placed by  so  doing,  and  the  reverence  they  have  for  this 
particular  machine,  giving  indisputable  organization  in  all 
its  parts,  leaving  no  alteration  on  any  account  whatever  to 
be  done.  Well,  then,  if  this  be  so,  shall  we  leave  it  in  a 
passive  manner,  and  submit  cO  this  indisputable  claim 
without  investigating  this  pre-eminent  authority  and  in- 
fallible right  which  they  have  inspired  from  some  classic 
acquaintance,  whose  intimacy  is  probably  of  a  binding 
and  servile  nature  for  better  appointments.  Excuse  me, 
and  let  me  expiate  a  little  and  say,  What  boy  will  not 
climb  to  get  the  cherry,  if  he  does  lacerate  his  body  and 
tear  his  clothes. 

Now,  here  is  a  piece  of  bigotry,  which  I  recently  wit- 
nessed, that  brought  out  these  remarks  above,  and  have 
frequently  met  with  such  persons  and  their  sophistry. 

It  is  not  unreasonable  to  think,  by  any  one  acquainted 
with  the  manufacture  of  cotton,  that  where  the  number  of 


THE     DRAWING     FRAME.  59 

counts  differ  so  inuch  in  their  range,  but  it  will  effect  the 
preparation  on  account  of  the  change  in  class  of  cotton  re- 
quired. I  am  now  speaking  of  what  should  be  done,  and 
not  what  is  usually  done,  that  is,  ramming  all  kinds 
through  without  any  alteration,  except  in  the  number  of 
hank  roving,  which  makes  it  compulsory  in  extreme  cases, 
and  that  itself  seems  to  be  little  understood  theoretically. 
But  we  must  go  farther  back  than  that,  and  see  whether  a 
class  of  cotton  with  a  disparity  of  fibres  will,  under  the 
same  treatment,  bring  out  the  same  class  of  yarns, 
as  a  class  of  cotton  with  a  uniform  staple.  This  is 
what  we  are  driving  at ;  but  what  astonishes  me  most 
is  that  the  former,  under  the  same  gradation  as  the 
latter  in  preparation,  makes  an  equal  claim  on  the 
price  of  his  goods  with  the  latter,  in  the  mar- 
ket, and  using  an  inferior  and  cheaper  cotton.  Just 
let  me  say  this,  that  it  is  impossible  for  any  one  to  do  it, 
unless  at  great  expense  of  getting  all  the  short  fibres  out, 
so  as  to  get  a  uniform  staple,  and  then  it  probably  fails 
for  want  of  strength  in  fibre.  In  the  treatment  of  these 
would  be  to  get  the  cotton  out  of  the  card  quick,  for  this 
inferior  kind,  and  have  small  draughts  which  means  coarse 
numbers,  also,  to  set  the  rollers  closer  than  otherways, 
and  reduce  the  breakage  of  draughts  if  it  becomes  a  real 
necessity,  in  order  to  give  cohesion  to  the  sliver,  and  pre- 
vent spreading  on  the  rollers,  and  will  assist  the  weighting 
in  a  measure,  which  will  require  an  additional  pressure, 
the  volume  of  sliver  remaining  the  same.  The  doublings 
ought  not  to  be  so  great  as  the  other,  for  they  entail  large 
draughts,  nor  will  they  stand  equal  draughts  with 
equal  doublings  repeatedly  in  the  drawing  frames, 
on  account  of  the  disparity  of  fibres  and  being  in 
an  untwisted  sliver,  also,  not  being  able  to  set  the  inter- 


6o  THE    DRAWING    FRAME. 

vals  of  rollers  to  suit  all  lengths  of  fibres,  but  as  they  be- 
come more  parallel,  they  release  themselves,  and  slip  out 
better,  riding  along  with  them,  the  short  fibres  that  cannot 
be  reached,  and  forms  in  clots  which  by  repeated  drawing 
on  this  machine,  begins  to  make  a  lumpy  sliver,  and  would 
be  better  before  going  so  far  to  turn  it  over  to  the  slubber, 
and  get  some  twist  put  in  and  get  a  closer  bite  with  the 
rollers ;  again,  there  can  be  two  extra  doublings  by  using 
an  intermediate  frame,  which  would  cause  a  reduction  of 
draughts  in  the  three  frames.  I  only  mention  this  because 
it  coincides  with  the  drawing  to  be  made,  and  must  be  un- 
derstood whether  such  is  to  be  used,  if  so  by  referring  to 
the  schedule  we  find  the  finished  drawing  to  weigh  sixty- 
five  grains  to  one  yard,  with  five  of  a  draught  and  four 
doublings,  and  the  first  head  of  drawing  to  weigh  eighty- 
five  grains  sliver,  with  four  doublings,  calling  the  railway 
head  sliver,  ninety-six  grains  to  one  yard,  and  constant  for 
all  numbers  or  counts,  when  making  warps  from  good 
middling  cottons.  But  if  the  intermediate  is  dispensed 
with,  the  standard  weight  of  finished  drawing  will  be  fifty- 
two  grains  to  one  yard,  with  five  of  draught  on  both 
heads  of  drawings,  and  four  doublings  on  each  head,  call- 
mg  the  railway  head  sliver,  eighty-four  grains  to  one  yard, 
and  constant  for  all  numbers  under  this  preparation,  and 
if  using  the  regular  four  sliver  roller  drawing  frame,  having 
three  draughts,  I  would  propose  1.2  in.  for  first,  and  1.3 
in.  for  second,  and  3.2  in.  for  the  front  and  second  rollers, 
and  if  the  doublings  are  required  to  be  changed  ;  the  front 
draught  will  be  in  proportion  to  the  hank  sliver,  but  keep- 
ing the  breakage  draughts  at  1.56  in.  I  must  here  give 
you  the  ru/e  for  getting  this  draught,  sq.  rt.  of  64  multiplied 
by  hank  sliver,  then  multiplied  by  1.56  in.  equals  the  whole 
draught.     The  intervals  being   i^^  in.,   i/j  in.,  and  ig  in. 


THE     DRAWING     FRAME.  6l 


for  front  and  second ;  but  if  you  should  happen  to  have 
a  three  line  roller  drawing  frame,  tjien  the  rule  is  sq.  rt.  of 
128,  multiplied  by  hank  sliver,  then  multiplied  by  i.ii  in., 
equals  the  whole  draught ;  this  1. 1 1  in.  means  the  breakage 
draught  for  three  roller  frames,  and  the  intervals,  i^  in. 
each,  and  the  weighting  of  top  rollers  to  be  from  50  to  60 
pounds  on  each  roller  having  two  bosses,  but  if  using  only 
one  boss,  a  little  lighter  weight  might  do ;  however,  you 
can  judge  for  yourself  after  giving  this  a  trial,  for  an  excess 
of  weight  ruins  the  leather  rollers  and  should  be  avoided, 
but  not  to  endanger  the  drawing.  I  shall  give  you  another 
method  here,  of  arranging  the  drawing  for  ordinary  cot- 
tons, which  works  well,  and  may  say,  admirable.  Here 
the  railway  head  draught  is  t^.-i,,  and  the  sliver  weighs  100 
grains  to  one  yard ;  you  only  put  two  of  these  ends  up  at 
the  first  head  of  drawing,  with  a  draught  of  3.75)100  mul- 
tipliM  by  2(equals  53  grains  per  yard.  Then  we  will  put  four 
ends  up  at  the  second  head  of  drawing,  with  a  draught  of 
four,  making  it  52  grains  to  one  yard,  which  weight  cor- 
responds with  the  other  plan.  This  method  having  the 
principle  of  drawing  in  its  favor,  but  not  the  doubling, 
which  must  be  governed  by  the  class  of  cotton.  If  using 
ordinary's,  then  this  method  will  do,  but  for  good  midd's 
cotton  I  would  prefer  the  extra  doublings  and  draughts.  I 
must  impress  on  your  mind  here  the  importance  of  the 
draughts,  which  are  not  to  be  considered  from  the  number 
of  doublings  but  from  the  volume  of  cotton  passing  under 
the  top  rollers,  and  must  be  in  the  proportion  of  hank 
sliver  being  made.  For  instance,  if  four  ends  are  put  up 
weighing  50  grains  each,  equal  200  grains,  we  must  not 
infer  that  if  two  ends  are  put  up  weighing  100  grains  each, 
equals  200  grains  also,  that  we  are  to  change  their  draughts 
on  account  of  their  doublings. 


62  THE     DRAWING     FRAME. 

The  production  of  these  drawings  from  their  respective 
weights  of  sliver,  and  velocity  of  front  roller  at  144  ft.  per 
minute,  will  give  us  216  pounds  per  ten  hours.  When 
making  a  65 -grain  sliver  and  when  making  a  5  2 -grain 
sliver,  we  shall  get  1 75  pounds  per  day  on  each  delivery, 
making  a  .13  hank  and  .16  hank  respectively.  I  generally 
set  the  rollers  at  first,  making  the  back  roller  4  inches  from 
front,  that  is,  from  centre  to  centre,  it  is  then  an  easy 
matter  to  adjust  the  other  two  lines  to  suit  the  working  of 
the  material,  and  for  the  protection  of  the  top  leather 
rollers,  it  is  preferable  to  have  about  12  flutes  to  the  circu- 
lar inch,  and  should  be  made  so  that  the  flutes  will  be 
irregular,  to  prevent  the  top  roller  lorming  a  surface  cor- 
responding to  the  bottom  roller,  by  the  heavy  pressure 
required  to  attenuate  such  large  slivers,  for  if  the  leather 
becomes  corrugated  the  damage  to  the  drawing  becomes 
inevitable,  and  must  be  replaced  by  smooth-surfaced  ones 
immediately  they  are  discovered,  having  always  a  reserve 
on  hand  sufficient  to  cover  these  emergencies,  and  if  these 
shell  rollers  were  made  to  suit  the  width  of  the  doublings,  we 
should  not  require  any  traverse,  which  is  an  evil  on  a  draw- 
ing frame,  we  could  then  make  our  rollers  shorter,  which 
would  be  an  advantage  in  the  weighting,  and  holding  the 
sliver  more  effectual.  We  should  have  four  ends  brought 
into  one  at  the  trumpet,  then,  with  a  less  angle,  this  being 
repulsive,  and  the  trumpet  should  have  a  bore  of  ig  of  an 
inch,  and  let  the  calender  be  lever  weighted,  so  that  the 
sliver  can  be  condensed  to  suit  circumstances,  taking  care 
to  have  no  draught  between  them  and  the  fluted  rollers, 
only  what  the  thickness  of  sliver  would  create,  we  must 
also  have  the  guides  to  the  back  rollers  as  close  up  as  pos- 
sible, so  as  to  keep  the  slivers  close  together,  and  prevent 
thin  places  underneath  the  leather  roller,  this  being  a  link 


THE    DRAWING    FRAME.  63 


in  the  chain  of  measure  for  good  drawing,  and  for  economy 
would  use  coilers  on  the  first  head,  but  on  the  second  or 
finisher,  it  is  necessary  to  see,  that  the  drawing  is  made 
perfect,  and  kept  untrammeled  by  any  friction  or  excess  of 
machinery  that  may  injure  it  unseen,  and  bring  us  trouble 
that  would  be  very  expensive  to  remedy,  therefore  we  will 
dispense  with  coilers,  in  this  head  of  drawing,  and  let  the 
sliver  drop  into  ten  in.  cans,  they  revolving  reciprocally  en- 
abeling  the  sliver  to  leave  the  can  without  twisting  it  so, 
as  it  leaves  the  can,  they  will  also  have  to  be  packed  by 
pressing  with  your  hand  carefully,  so  that  the  fibres  may 
be  kept  undisturbed,  using  every  possible  means  of  pre- 
vention, to  secure  the  parallelism  of  these  fine  filaments, 
before  becoming  twisted,  the  necessity  of  this  is  explained 
as  it  progresses.  The  utility  of  this  ingenious  mode  of  nip- 
ping hold  as  it  were,  with  the  points  of  your  fingers,  and 
drawing  out  the  fibres  longitudinal,  by  their  infinite  num- 
ber and  small  points,  in  such  an  orderly  and  mechanical  man- 
ner, being  a  decided  improvement  over  the  master-stroke  of 
the  points  of  card  wire,  which  of  themselves  cannot  nip  hold 
of  these  innumerable  points,  but  as  they  present  themselves 
they  are  hooked  off  by  their  loops  and  spiral  contortions, 
and  carried  into  the  meshes  of  wire  to  be  lashed  unravelled 
and  tore,  and  straightened  partially  according  to  the  capri- 
cious nature  of  the  fibres,  which  are  thus  combed  off  m- 
differently  compared  with  the  masterly  manner  of  these 
drawing  rollers,  it  is  as  much  superior  to  the  card  for  draw- 
ing, as  the  comber  is  for  cleaning.  Thus  showing  how 
progressively  arranged  are  the  different  manipulations 
which  the  cotton  has  to  undergo,  as  it  advances  in  its  ca- 
reer towards  the  attainment  of  a  perfect  thread. 

And    yet  there  are  theories,  visions  and  ideas  advanced, 
that  this  machine  is  superfluous,  and  a  complete  deadhead. 


64  THE    DRAWING     FRAME. 

having  it  is  said,  been  proved  by  microscopic    investiga- 
tions, that  the  parallelism  of  the  fibres  are  in  better  con- 
dition, before  going  through  the  drawing  frame,  and  only 
becomes  necessary  here  to  reduce  the  sliver  to  a  certain 
weight,    and  in  performing  this,  it  produces  an  uneven 
sliver,  which  can,  be  easily  done  if  placed  under  such  in- 
experienced treatment.       Now  such  a  statement  as  this, 
and  to  have  come  from  a  scientific  investigation,  whose 
authority   runs    pretty   high  among  those   persistant   in- 
quirers where  it  originated,  and  they  have  had  the  audacity 
to  bring  before  the  public  such  startling  results  of  their  in- 
vestigations, which  is  calculated   to  do  more  injury  than 
benefit  the  manufacturer,  who  is  always  ready  to  take  ad- 
vantage of  anything  new  that  will  aid  him  in  doing  his 
work  in  a  more  economical  manner,  although  his  former 
experience  may  have  been  extensive,  having  acquired  a 
thorough  knowledge  of  how  this  machine  does  its  work,  and 
with  such  precision,  knowing  that  it  is  an  indispensable 
machine,  so  far  as  he  has  proved  the  requirements  neces- 
sary for   making   good    yarns.      He   knows   if  this   ma- 
chine is  neglected,  and  should  in  any  way  get  out  of  order, 
that  his  yarn  becomes  worthless,  if  it  does  not  perform  its 
functions  by  drawing  and  placing  the  fibres  more  parallel, 
and  making  it  evener  by  the  doublings  than  when  it  left 
the  cards.     Yet,  in  an  idle  moment,  he  picks  up  a  pam- 
phlet to  read  a  series  of  experiments,  which  are  undergoing 
a  severe  test,  by  some  of  these  scientific  men,  who  pro- 
fesses to  have  discovered,  and  by  their  machinations  to 
lead  the  public  to  believe  by  some  new  evolution,  he  cau 
dispense  with  this  useful  machine,  and  he  being  a  contem- 
porary with  Darwin,  leaves  it  questionable  with  this  in- 
quirer whether  such  an  appendage,  is  not  more  of  a  nuisance 
than  being  useful.      However,  after   reading  the  flowery 


THE    DRAWING     FRAME.  65 

statements  at  which  these  experiments  brought  forth,  or 
as  represented,  he  becomes  sanguine  of  its  merits,  and 
rushes  headlong  into  this  artful  device,  he  arranges  his 
carding  and  railway  head  sliver  to  conform  with  the 
draught  of  the  slubber,  and  through  the  excitement  every- 
thing seems  to  run  along  satisfactory,  until  he  comes  to 
watch  thje  ring  spinning,  here  his  heart  is  bowed  down, 
and  wonders  why  it  does  not  run  so  well  here;  after  re- 
flecting deliberately,  he  thinks  by  altering  so  and  so,  will 
help  it ;  after  a  while,  something  else  suggests  itself,  and 
there  he  goes  making  all  these  "changes,  and  still  no  better. 
At  last  he  reconciles  himself  by  thinking:  oh,  well,  that  is 
good  enough,  I  have  seen  worse  than  that,  and  maybe  it 
will  come  out  all  right  after  a  while.  He  again  returns 
to  the  card-room,  and  is  delighted  with  the  change,  having 
dispensed  with  the  drawing  frame,  and  the  help  required 
to  attend  them,  he  could  never  think  of  going  back  to  the 
old  system.  "No,  that  is  too  absurd  altogether;  I  am  a 
little  ahead  of  my  neighbors  and  competitors  now;  they 
are  too  slow  in  picking  up  these  novelties,  instead  of  tak- 
ing advantage  of  them  right  away.  Don't  talk  to  me 
about  changing  back  again  to  be  laughed  at.  No,  sir. ' '  In 
a  week  or  so  the  spooler  complains,  and  the  warper,  and  then 
the  weaver  who  says  it  is  impossible  to  weave  it.  It  is  now 
about  time  for  one  of  these  scientific  men  to  bring  along 
with  him,  a  micrometre,  and  give  us  a  little  of  his  measur- 
ing experiments,  showing  us  how  many  different  numbers 
of  yarn  he  can  claim  in  ;^6  in.  length  more  than  by  the 
old  system,  which  I  will  warrant  is  double,  if  made  into 
medium  counts,  but  if  very  coarse,  then  the  uneveness  is 
not  so  easily  seen,  for  it  is  when  you  begin  to  extend  the 
draughts  that  the  evil  commences,  by  the  reason  of  its 
fibres  becoming  twisted  before  they  were  laid  parallel,  and 


66  THE    DRAWING    FRAME. 

I  may  state  here,  affirming,  that  it  is  impossible  to  draw 
and  keep  an  even  thread  from  such  a  preparation,  and  I 
mean  this  as  an  admonition  to  those  who  have  not  had 
this  experience,  will  benefit  by  it,  and  leave  such  a  course 
alone.  In  reviewing  the  course  of  this  drawing  frame,  it 
will  be  seen  that  the  doublings  are  few,  only  being  sixteen 
when  using  the  railway  head,  and  making  middling  counts; 
but  for  coarser  numbers  using  the  worker  and  stripper  card, 
sixteen  doubling  will  be  sufficient,  but  if  higher  numbers 
are  required,  another  drawing  frame  should  be  used,  in  the 
preparation  using  a  more  equable  staple  of  cotton,  if  it  is 
necessary  for  the  articles  from  which  your  yarns  are  in- 
tended to  make,  whether  it  is  to  be  a  close,  smooth  and 
wiry  thread,  or  a  loose,  bulky,  fuzzy  thread,  this  all  de- 
pends on  the  doublings  and  parallelism  of  the  fibres,  and 
this  drawing  should  be  done  very  cautiously ;  the  amount 
of  draughts  used  are  to  be  compared  with  the  state  of  the 
fibres,  and  will  not  admit  of  large  draughts  while  in  a 
confused  state,  and  should  never  be  attempted  until  the 
preparation  is  complete,  and  a  portion  of  twist  in  it,  and 
there  the  extension  may  be  carried  out  according  to 
schedule ;  but  the  longer,  and  finer,  and  stronger  the 
staple,  so  may  the  doublings  and  draughts  be  increased 
when  spinning  fine  numbers,  hoping  these  few  hints  may 
be  productive  of  making  good  drawing. 


THE     DRAWING     FRAME, 


67 


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68  THESLUBBER. 


THE    SLUBBER. 

The  slubber  is  the  next  machine  which  takes  and  uses 
the  drawing,  and  puts  the  first  twist  in,  and  is  then  called 
slubber  roping;  these  machines  have  three  lines  of  fluted 
rollers,  and  a  number  of  spindles  and  flyers,  varying  ac- 
cording to  the  amount  of  work  required,  they  are  generally 
made  from  40  to  80  spindles,  whose  length  is  also  deter- 
mined by  this  amount ;  there  being  one  drawing  sliver  for 
each  spindle,  taken  from  the  can  at  the  back  of  frame,  and 
carried  over  a  roller  which  assists  in  lifting  and  keeping 
the  sliver  straight,  it  being  brought  out  over  the  can 
to  relieve  the  friction  on  the  edges.  This  roller,  conveys 
the  sliver  to  the  guide  close  to  the  back  roller,  under 
which  it  is  drawn,  this  sliver  has  been  carried  up  here  by 
a  motion  having  the  same  velocity  as  the  back  roller,  to 
prevent  it  being  torn  and  its  fibres  displaced  and  this  im- 
portant feature  will  be  assisted  by  having  the  cans  made 
of  such  a  diameter,  that  will  be  equal  to  half  the  length  of 
roller  box  which  brings  the  conductor  guide  in  centre  of 
can  by  which  they  can  be  placed  in  a  more  neat  and  reg- 
ular order  making  better  work,  and  I  believe  less  waste 
than  when  the  cans  are  made  larger  and  intended  to  save 
labor.  Now  this  sliver  is  drawn  through  at  a  velocity  in 
ratio  with  draught  and  speed  of  front  roller  which  is  153 
revolutions  of  \]^  in.  diameter,  and  the  draught  is  5.3 
and  the  diameter  of  back  and  middle  roller  one  inch. 

Then  5.3)153(29  multiplied  by  ^l  equals  36  revolutions 
of  back  roller  and  the  draught  between  middle  and  back 
roller  is  equal  to  10th  of  whole  draught,  or  should  be,  and 
if  this  slubbing  roping  is  intended  to  go  to  roving  frame, 
then  the  hank  slubbing  for  making  20' s  yarn  will  be  .85 
hank  or  9.8  grains  to  one  yard  with  4.23  turns  of  spindle 


THE    SLUBBER.  69 


to  one  revolution  of  front   roller,  thus  giving   153   multi- 
plied by  4.23  equals  650  revolutions  of  spindles;  we  will 
now  find  out   from  these  what  quantity  of  work  can  be 
done,  taking  the  front  roller  at   1.25   in  diameter,  we  get 
1.25)16(12.8  a  guage  point   for  that  size  of  roller,  so  by 
dividing  153  divided  by  12.8  equals  12  hanks  in  10  hours, 
if  the  machine  never  stops,  we  must  allow  about  25  per 
cent,  taken  off  this  4)i2(equals  3  equals  9  hanks  divided 
by  .85  hanks  equals  10.73  1^^-  P^^  spindle  and  10.73)175(16 
spindles  to  one  delivery  of  drawing  head.     Thus  showing 
how  many  deliveries  and  how  many  slubber  spindles  is  re- 
quired to  produce  so  many  pounds  per  day,  of  10  hours. 
In  adjusting  the  fluted  rollers  for  this   .85   hank  the  dis- 
tance between  the  front  and  second  roller  called  the  inter- 
val vswxsX  be  set  1.27.  inches  from  centre  to  centre,  and  the 
top  roller  will  require  20  pounds  weight  using  either  solid 
or  shell  rollers  and  the  roping  laid-  spirally  around   the 
bobbin  should  have  9.  i  layers  to  one  inch  in  length,  always 
keeping   the    traverse    rail   at    its    minimum    speed    but 
corresponding    to    the    schedule    and    the   hank   roping 
being  made  for  this.     I  may  here  give  the  rule,  sq.  rt.  of  .85 
multipled  by  100  equals  9.1  layers  and  should  be  strictly 
obeyed ;  there  are  also  many  other  rules  by  which  we  get 
the  answers  to  these  questions  abstractly  or  by  cancellation. 
I  previously  stated  that  this  hank  roping  must  weigh  9.8 
grains  to  one  yard  ;  now,  to  explain  this,   there  are  840 
yards  in  i    hank,  and  this  measure  weighs   7000  grains. 
Now  what  is  the  weight  of  one  yard?  it  is  840)7000(8.33 
grains,  one  yard.     You  will  now  discover  the  simplicity 
of  this  rule,  when  I  show  you  how  I  get  the  weight  of  one 
yard   of  any  hank-roping  in  grains,   we  have  called  our 
slubbing  roping-hank  .85)8.33(9.8  grains.     Again,  it  will 
be  easily  seen  how  to  get  the  draught   for  the  slubber 


70  SLUBBING. 


frame  by  9.8)52  grains  (5.3  draught,  with  the  rollers. 
And  the  rule  for  getting  the  number  of  turns  of  spindles 
for  one  revolution  of  i^  roller  is  sq.  rt.  of  21  multiplied  by 
.85  equals  4.23  turns  of  spindle,  thus  giving  you  a  precise 
method  of  getting  the  number  of  teeth  in  twist  wheel, 
draught  wheel,  lifting  wheel  and  the  cone  wheel  will  be 
determined  by  the  diameter  of  bobbin  and  diameter  of 
front  roller  in  conjunction  with  the  system  of  gearing  at- 
tached, and  the  rack  change  wheel  is  to  let  off  such  a 
length  of  move,  that  will  coincide  with  the  pressure  given 
by  the  tension,  number  of  layers  per  inch  and  thickness  of 
roping.  In  making  changes,  the  twist,  lift,  and  rack  are 
in  geometrical  ratio,  except  in  the  rollers,  when  the  weight 
is  in  direct  proportion  to  the  number  of  teeth  in  the  change 
pinion,  but  inversely  to  the  draught,  these  being  the  gen- 
eral features  of  the  machine,  and  leave  this  stubbing  roping 
which  is  intended  for  roving  frames. 

SLUBBING. 

We  will  now  see  what  kind  of  slubbing  roping  is  re- 
quired for  number  20's,  when  using  an  intermediate  frame 
by  referring  to  the  schedule  it  calls  for  .51  hank  slubbing 
.51)8.33(16.3  grains  to  one  yard,  the  drawing  being  .65 
divided  by  16.3  equals  four  of  draught,  and  the  front  rol- 
ler running  200  revolutions  per  minute,  with  3.28  turns  of 
spindle  for  one  revolution  of  roller  giving  the  spindle  a 
speed  of  200  multipled  by  3.28  equals  656  revolutions  per 
minute,  this  being  a  maximum  speed  for  this  coarse  roping 
however,  we  will  go  by  this  schedule,  then  the  number  of 
hanks  will  be  200  divided  by  12.8  equals  15.6  hanks,  if 
the  machine,  never  stops  in  ten  hours,  but  we  will  take  40 
per  cent,  off,  thus  reducing  it  to  9.24  hanks  per  ten  hours, 


SLUBBING.  71 


a  production  of  .51)10(18.12  pounds  for  spindle,  giving 
MS  iiyi  slubber  spindles  to  one  delivery  on  drawing  frame. 
There  seems  to  be  a  great  increase  in  the  weight  turned 
off  from  the  same  number  of  revolutions  on  the  spindle, 
still  it  is  no  exaggeration  when  you  have  proficient  help, 
but  the  labor  is  increased  with  the  production  requiring 
some  assistance  when  dofiing;  toreduce  the  per  cent,  oflo.js, 
which  would  incur  in  these  intervals,  using  all  expedient 
measures  to  the  starting  up  of  the  machine  that  we  may  derive 
the  greatest  benefit  from  it,  for  time  is  money,  and  if  there  be 
a  deficiency  in  single  help,  and  allowing  the  machine  to 
stand,  it  is  a  waste  of  strength  to  the  help  and  a  loss  to  the 
proprietor  which  will  eat  like  a  cancer  and  assist  in  making 
his  business  unremunerative,  for  it  is  always  the  best  to 
select  machines  of  great  productive  powers,  consistent  with 
the  more  required  merits  of  doing  it  well  and  such  as  are 
calculated  to  relieve  the  labor  and  expenses  in  repairs  on 
the  machine.  I  am  in  favor  of  this  class  of  machines  be- 
cause we  reduce  the  quantity,  for  it  is  horrid  to  see  this 
incumbrance  of  machinery  and  the  production  no  greater, 
although  it  is  necessary  for  the  improvement  of  the  work 
sometimes  to  use  an  auxiliary  machine  like  the  system  we 
are  now  considering.  We  have  already  seen  the  benefit 
of  reducing  the  draughts  and  the  qua*itity  of  slubber  spin- 
dles necessary  for  the  same  production  by  comparison, 
when  not  using  this  intermediate  we  require  7  per  cent. 
less  roving  spindles  and  80  per  cent,  more  slubber  spindles 
and  50  per  cent,  more  draught  altogether.  The  drawing  sliver 
used  for  this  slubber  weighs  65  grains  to  one  yard,  which  is  a 
volume  that  is  most  practical  to  insure  a  regular  and  per- 
fect roping.  Coinciding  with  the  draught  used,  which 
will  correspond  at  all  times  with  the  draught  capable  of 
being  held  with  the  top  rollers  by  being  kept  in  closer 


72  SLUBBING. 


contact  with  all  its  fibres,  not  allowing  any  portion  of  its 
section  in  advance  of  the  whole,  which  often  occurs  when 
the  sliver  is  too  large,  raising  the  top  rollers  so  high  as  not 
to  be  governed  with  the  edges  of  sliver  exposed,  and  not 
retained  to  be  teased  out  by  the  drawing  roller.  It  is  such 
little  things  as  these  that  contribute  toward  defeating  your 
purpose  and  detrimental  to  making  a  nice  level  thread. 
We  shall  have  to  increase  the  weight  for  top  rollers  on  ac- 
count of  this  coarse  sliver,  to  28  lbs.  on  front  roller,  and 
the  same  on  back  and  middle  rollers.  The  breakage  draught 
here  is  i-ioth  of  the  whole  draught,  that  is,  if  the  whole 
be  4,  then  i-iothwiU  be  4-10,  so  that  leaves  4mmus.4, 
equals  3.6,  iox  front  roller,  plus  .4  equals  4  draught,  al- 
though it  would  be  more  correct  to  say  3.6)4.(1.11  equals 
for  back  and  middle  roller  as  all  draughts  are  as  their  pro- 
ducts then  the  whole  draught  will  be  2)-^  multiplied  by  i.i 
equals  4,the  same.  These  top  rollers  are  covered  with  leather, 
except  the  back  is  sometimes  an  iron-fluted  roller,  which 
is  not  so  good,  the  flutes  have  a  tendency  to  crimp  the 
fibres  and  injure  them,  the  hold  being  too  rigid.  These 
leather  rollers  are  often  varnished  to  make  them  more  du- 
rable and  prevent  them  from  lapping  ;  this  may  be  allowed 
on  shell  rollers,  as  each  boss  is  independen*^,  but  where 
solid  rollers  are  used,  varnish  with  gritty  substance  in  it 
should  be  discarded,  as  it  wears  off  the  flutes  of  steel  rollers 
in  a  very  short  time  and  destroys  them  altogether,  the  shell 
rollers  are  preferable  for  the  front  when  having  suffi- 
cient weight  on  them,  but  solid  rollers  have  greater 
tearing  force,  and  will  draw  with  a  less  weight,  but  not  so 
regular.  Now  the  front  roller  being  i^  inches  in  diame- 
ter, will  deliver  3.927  inches  in  one  revolution,  and  the 
spindle  3.28  revolutions  for  the  above,  giving  us  3. 28  revo- 
lutions, divided  by  3.927  in.  equal  .8  of  a  turn  per  in.  of 


SLUBBING.  73 


twist,  and  by  cancellation  issq.  rt.  of  51  multiplied  by  1.13, 
equal  .8  turns  the  same,  the  1.13  being  a  G.  P.  for 
i}(  in.  rollers,  this  amount  of  twist  being  practical  for 
middling  cottons,  rendering  it  tensible  by  the  rollers  in 
the  next  machine.  We  shall  have  to  make  the  number  of 
layersforthishanksq.  rt.  of.51  multiplied  by  1 00,  equal  7.15 
per  inch  in  length  on  bobbin.  After  laying  the  first  layer, 
the  length  of  bobbin  to  be  made,  should  decrease  one 
layer  every  reversion,  making  a  bobbin  with  conical  ends, 
built  in  such  a  manner  to  prevent  the  roping  from  running 
over,  by  having  a  taper  of  such  a  bevel,  made  by  this 
diminution  in  length  of  bobbin  as  it  increases  in  diameter, 
and  this  builder  wheel  should  be  made  changeable  accord- 
ing to  the  number  of  laps  round  the  presser,  or  the  ten- 
sion of  a  spring,  the  greater  the  tension,  and  shorter  is 
the  move  of  rack,  thus  making  a  short  taper  and  putting 
more  length  of  roping  on  the  bobbin,  this  is  all  right  if 
the  ends  are  smooth  and  a  clean  bevel.  We  have  to  take 
this  tension  off  sometimes  when  the  cotton  is  poor,  by 
taking  one  lap  off  the  presser,  and  by  doing  this  the  move 
of  rack  is  increased,  and  then  will  make  a  longer  taper 
and  reducing  the  length  of  roping  on  the  bobbin,  hence  a 
change  of  the  tapering  wheel.  We  must  not  allow  any 
loss  in  production  through  this  change,  but  if  the  twist 
requires  increasing  then  it  is  unavoidable. 


74 


INTERMEDIATE    FRAME. 


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29 

1.20 

7- 

7.07 

158 

4.62 

10.95 

4.24 

30 

1.22 

6.83 

6.89 

155 

4.67 

II. 

4.27 

INTERMEDIATE     FRAME.  75 


THE    INTERMEDIATE    FRAME. 

The  Intermediate  Frame  is  next  in  order ;  its  purpose 
being  to  get  more  doublings  and  reduce  the  slubbir.g  rop- 
ing to  a  finer  roving.  This  machine  has  a  creel  in  which 
the  slubber  bobbins  are  placed  in  a  vertical  position,  hav-* 
ing  a  skewer  through  them  on  which  they  revolve  by  their 
ends  resting  in  a  smooth  cup  and  the  other  ends  going  in 
a  hole  made  to  keep  them  upright.  These  creel  rods  or 
plates  are  made  of  iron,  in  which  these  holes,  and  cups,  or 
countersinks  are  made,  at  such  a  distance  as  will  allow  full 
bobbins  to  revolve,  but  it  is  best  to  set  half  bobbins  next 
to  full  bobbins,  and  so  on  alternately,  all  through  the 
whole  creel.  These  slubber  ropings  being  .51  hank,  two 
of  these  are  put  through  one  guide,  which  is  called  doub- 
lingy  and  attenuated  by  the  rollers  and  converted  into  one 
roving  by  the  twist,  it  being  reduced  from  2).5i(.  255  hank 
roping  multiplied  by  the  draught  viz.  .255  multiplied  by  4.02, 
equals  1.02  hank  roving  for  20's  yarn,  requiring sq.  rt.  of  1 7.8 
multiplied  by  1.02  equals  4.26  turns  of  spindle  for  one 
revolution  of  front  roller,  the  number  of  revolutions  being 
188  multiplied  by  4.26  equals  800  revolutions  of  spindle 
per  minute.  The  number  of  layers  sq.  rt.of  1.02  multiplied 
by  100,  equals  10  layers  per  inch  in  length.  The  quantity 
of  work  turned  off  by  this  frame  will  be  got  from  a  new 
gauge  point — roller  \yi  in.)i6.(i4. 2  G.  P.,  a  divisor  for 
\%  in.  roller  thsn  we  will  get  14.2)188(13.24  hanks  per 
10  hours  without  stopping,  but  for  breakages  and  doffings 
we  shall  allow  33  per  cent,  deduction  viz.  13. 2  multiplied  by 
.67,  equals  9.24  hanks  per  day.  This  is  like  the  slubber, 
a  maximum  rate  and  will  amount  to  1.02)9.24(9.06  lbs.  per 
spindle  averaging  two  intermediate  spindles  to  one  slubber 
spindle,  this  being  a  proper  ratio ;  for  this  system  of  prep- 


76  INTERMEDIATE    FRAME. 

aration  which  encourages  a  little  more  speed,  for  you  are 
supposed  now,  to  be   using  a  better  class  of  stock,  with 
more  doublings  warranting  an  evener  roving  by  the  ap- 
proximation of  its  fibres,  thus  giving  additional  strength 
to  the  sectional  and  longitudinal  portions  of  the  thread, 
by  which  this  excellent  frame  is  so  highly  recommended. 
We  shall  be  obliged  to  close  our  rollers  up  a  little  in  this 
frame,  making  the  interval  between  front  and  second, 
from  centre  to  centre,  1.25  in.,  also  increasing  the  weight 
for  top  rollers  to  22  lbs. ,  our  experience  here  being  our  guide, 
and  guarantee  this  an  average  weight  Irom  one  hank  up  to 
two  hank  roving,  you  see  there  are  two  ends  under  one 
boss,  and  four  ends  to  a  roller,  this  being  weighted  in  the 
middle  by  a  hook,  which  connects  with  the  weight-wire 
and  weight.     The  front  top  roller  should  have  a  diameter 
as  large  as  the  interval  will  allow,  in  any  of  these  frames 
when   used   as   a  master  drawing  roller,  giving  it  more 
traction    surface    on    the    rovings    to    be    drawn     and 
seeming    altogether    to    have  a    beneficial    influence  on 
the    fibres,    while     in     the     action     of    drawing,     and 
whenever    we    see    intuitively,   these    advantages  should 
be    mementos   in  our   researches,  which  will   be  useful, 
endeavoring   at   all   times   to   collect   such    information, 
whether  it  presents  itself  unlooked  for,  or  acquired  by  ex- 
periment, must  be  retained  for  the  benefit  and  progress  of 
human  achievements ;  this  machine  here  under  our  con- 
sideration is  a  representation  of  what  has  been  done  by 
the  retentive  powers  and  accumulated  experience  of  those 
who  have  been  persistant  in  their  labors,  and  unceasing  in 
their  efforts  to  remove  that  which  is  unprofitable,  by  some 
new  invention,  whereby  we  can  redeem  ourselves  by  the 
quantity  and  quality  this  invention   produces   over  our 
,  primitive  methods,  each  and  every  improvement  contribut- 


INTERMEDIATE     FRAME.  77 


ing  towards  the  perfection  of  our  machines,  and  reducing 
our  labor. 

In  reference  to  these  drawing  rollers  on  this  machine, 
it  is  best  to  have  a  moderate  draught  like  the  one  pre- 
scribed, for  the  task  is  more  difficult  on  account  of  the 
coarse  twisted  roping,  and  the  number  of  doublings  under 
one  roller,  which  makes  it  require  such  heavy  weighting 
of  the  top  rollers,  unless  relieved  by  a  greater  interstice  of 
front  and  second  rollers,  which  will  be  injurious  to  the 
roving  if  the  extension  exceeds  the  volume  and  staple,  these 
two  being  the  connecting  links  for  the  measure  of  inter- 
vals, and  will  be  governed  in  some  respects  by  the  amount 
of  twist  previously  put  in  these  coarse  ropings,  which  re- 
quires a  little  watchfulness  by  the  overseer,  for  if  the  roping 
at  times  should  partially  stop  the  front  top  roller,  and  de- 
liver here  at  a  velocity  of  middle  roller,  without  being 
attenuated,  it  is  evident  then  for  you  to  relieve  yourself 
from  this  dilemma  by  pursuing  the  above  course  ;  then 
again  if  the  coarse  roping  should  be  drawn  through  at  a 
velocity  equal  to  front  roller  without  being  attenuated, 
there  is  then  a  deficiency  of  weight  on  the  back  and  mid- 
dle rollers  or  excessive  twist,  with  too  little  breakage 
draught  between  these  two  rollers.  We  ar;;  compelled  at 
times  to  resort  to  indulgencies,  regardless  of  its  issue,  when 
emergencies  require  immediate  relief,  so  that  the  machinery 
may  be  kept  running  and  prevent  disorder  in  the  room  by 
the  help.  These  frames  having  such  heavy  weights  on  the 
top  rollers,  endangers  the  necks  of  steel  rollers  by  wearing 
them  and  the  squares  out  so  fast,  particularly  if  the  frame 
is  too  long  by  twisting  the  ends  right  off,  they  should  not 
exceed  120  spindles,  8  in.  by  4  in.  bobbins,  this  being 
adequate  for  a  60  spindle  slubber  of  10  in.  by  5  in.  bob- 
bins, when  the  hank  roving  corresponds  to  the  schedule. 


78  INTERMEDIATE    FRAME. 

In  getting  the  number  of  twist  per  inch  for  i^  diameter 
roller  is  to  get  number  of  turns  of  spindle  for  front  roller, 
one  revolution  equals  4.26,  divided  by  3.53  circumference 
of  roller,  equals  1.19  twist  per  inch,  showing  that  the 
number  of  turns  are  in  direct  ratio  with  hank  roving,  but 
inversely  to  number  of  teeth  in  the  twist  wheel,  and  there 
should  always  be  sufficient  twist  put  in  the  roving,  to  hold  and 
retain  it  without  any  loss,  until  it  reaches  the  rollers  of  the 
next  machine ;  sometimes  you  will  discover  when  taking 
the  flyers  off  the  spindles  preparatory  to  doffing,  the  roving 
will  not  break  off  as  it  should  do,  close  to  the  bobbin  on 
account  of  too  much  twist  in  the  roving,  and  cannot  be 
reduced  if  the  machine  has  too  great  a  speed  on  it,  unless 
you  bring  it  to  the  limit  where  the  twist  wheel  is  tanta- 
mount to  the  speed  of  spindle,  which  is  the  proper  test  for 
arriving  at  the  greatest  production  of  these  machines,  and 
which  will  maintain  its  maximum  production,  by  having  a 
system  of  doffing,  like  we  have  for  spinning  frames,  which 
will  reduce  the  loss  in  production  by  stoppages,  for  slubber 
and  roving  frames  to  twenty  minutes  for  doffing  and 
breakages  for  every  sett  of  full  bobbins  made,  according 
to  the  schedule. 


ROVING    FRAME, 


79 


FOR  A 

fine:   roving   FTi.A.TiLE. 


"d 

iJ 

(/) 

^ 

o 

si 

0   0) 

.  1^ 

m 

(I 

H-1 

bO 

3 

Q 

&H 

0 

0 

7 

1.45 

5.74 

5.25 

157 

5.08 

12. 1 

4.52 

8 

1.58 

5-27 

4.91 

157 

5-3° 

12.56 

4.65 

lO 

1.84 

4-53 

4-375 

157 

5.72 

13.6 

4-9 

II 

1.95 

4.27 

4.02 

150 

5.90 

139 

5- 

12 

2.08 

4. 

3-99 

155 

6.1 

14.4 

5.10 

13 

2.19 

3-8 

3.83 

155 

6.25 

14.42 

5.19 

14 

2.35 

3-55 

3.66 

157 

6.48 

15-32 

5-31 

15 

2.41 

345 

3-54 

156 

6.56 

15-5 

5-36 

i6 

2.51 

3-32 

340 

154 

6.7 

15.85 

5-43 

17 

2.62 

3-17 

3-3 

154 

6.82 

16.2 

5-51 

i8 

2.75 

3-05 

3.16 

153 

7- 

16.6 

5.6 

19 

2.82 

2.95 

3-07 

152 

7-1 

16.8 

5.65 

20 

2.92 

2.85 

3.02 

155 

7.21 

I7.I 

5-71 

21 

3.02 

2.75 

2.88 

151 

7-35 

174 

5-78 

22 

3-II 

2.68 

2.83 

151 

745 

17.6 

5-83 

23 

3.21 

2.58 

2.76 

152 

7-53 

17.9 

5-89 

24 

3-3 

2.52 

2.66 

150 

7.68 

18.2 

5-95 

25 

345 

2.42 

2.6 

152 

7.85 

18.6 

6.03 

26 

348 

2.40 

2.54 

150 

7.9 

18.7 

6.05 

27 

3-S5 

2.35 

2.46 

147 

7-96 

18.85 

6.1 

28 

3-65 

2.28 

2.39 

147 

8.08 

19.2 

6.15 

29 

3-75 

2.22 

2.36 

148 

8.19 

19.4 

6.21 

30 

3.83 

2.18 

2.30 

146 

8.25 

19.6 

6.25 

8o  ROVING    FRAME. 


THE    ROVING    FRAME. 

The  Roving  Frame,  is  the  next  machine  using  the  inter- 
mediate bobbins,  which  are  placed  in  a  creel,  by  which 
they  can  be  unwound  in  a  systematic  manner,  by  taking  two 
of  these  rovings  through  one  eyelet  of  traverse  guide, 
forming  one  thread,  termed  doubling ;  they  are  then  atten- 
uated to  the  desired  length  and  weight  by  this  operation, 
which  helps  and  assists  in  making  a  more  uniform  thread, 
being  an  element  of  the  art  of  cotton  spinning,  whereby 
we  have  produced  by  previous  arrangements  and  calcula- 
tions, a  draught  consistent  with  the  hank  roving,  for  it 
must  not  be  supposed  that  any  draught  is  right  that  will 
bring  the  doublings  to  the  desired  hank,  or  is  sufficient,  or 
that  the  counts  of  yarn  shall  be  made  from  a  hank  roving 
that  is  inconsistent  with  them,  produced  either  by  an  ex- 
tensive draught,  or  by  a  reduced  one,  such  methods  are  to 
be  deprecated.  It  having  struck  me  years  ago,  that  there 
ought  to  be  a  better  way  of  doing  this  business,  for  in  one 
mill  they  will  have  two  hank  roving,  making  numbers 
from  8's  up  to  20's,  when  I  go  to  another  mill,  they  are 
using  2^  hank  roving,  another  mill  will  be  using  2^^ 
hank  roving,  and  another  2^  hank  roving,  and  so 
on.  Every  one  of  them  claiming  to  be  beating  his 
competitor ;  I  often  wonder  how  such  a  variety  of  treat- 
ments will  bring  forth  such  charming  results,  for  every 
individual  manufacturer,  under  such  different  ways  of 
obtaining  it.  Now  it  is  the  arranging  of  the  draughts, 
that  is  paramount  in  forming  a  system  by  which  we  can 
refer  to,  these  call  for  certain  weights  and  measures  to  be 
obtained  from  correct  rules.  The  ist  being  a  rule  to  get 
the  number  of  hank  rovings  from  the  counts  to  be  made, 
which  are  No.  20'sj    here  this  No.  20  is  squared  equals 


ROVING    FRAME.  8l 


400  divided  by  2,  equals  200  ;  extract  the  cube  root  of  this, 
which  gives  us  5.85  hank  roving,  this  being  a  roving 
to  be  doubled  in  the  spinning  for  No.  20's,  but  if  these 
No.  20' s  are  to  be  made  from  single  roving,  then  5.85 
divided  by  2,  equals  2,92  hank  roving,  which  is  the  speci- 
fied number  in  the  schedule  from  intermediate  roving. 

In  putting  the  rule  more  precise  and  arithmetical,  it 
equals  cub.  rt.  of  (numbers  squared  divided  by  2),  equals 
hank  roving  used  single. 

The  rule  for  draught  equals  cub.  rt.  of  64  multiplied  by 
2.93  equals  5.71  draught,  this  being  the  draught  required 
for  2.92  hank  roving  made  from  1.02  hank  intermediate 
roving,  and  by  this  rule  you  can  determine  any  other 
draught  from  the  hank  roving,  which  you  can  see  are  very 
moderate  and  will  insure  large  productions  by  the  machines, 
and  all  other  portions  of  the  schedule  being  kept  up  to, 
that,  belongs  to  this  number  of  counts.  We  must  keep  a 
close  watch  and  adhere  to  every  item  prescribed  in  it, 
with  a  desire  to  learn  from  it  a  more  methodical  course 
by  which  we  attain  superior  results. 

I  shall  now  give  a  full  description  of  the  roving 
frame,  and  how  to  make  the  calculations  lor  the 
different  motions,  showing  how  simple  it  is  for  the 
solutions  of  questions  relative  to  all  these  motions, 
in  a  very  concise  manner,  but,  which  seem  difficult. 
Now  we  require  for  No.  20's  yarn  a  2.92  hank  roving,  and 
the  number  of  turns  of  spindle  will  be  sq.  rt.  of  1 7 . 8,  multi- 
plied by  2.92  equals  7.2  turns  of  spindle  for  one  revolution  of 
the  front  roller.  And  the  draught  will  be  5.71,  and  the 
number  of  layers  equals  sq.  rt.  of  2.92,  multiplied  by  100 
equals  16.5  layer  per  inch  on  the  bobbins,  and  the  ratio  of 
spindle  to  driving  shaft  being  3.05,  and  the  ratio  of  ex- 
tremes of  revolutions  of  bottom  cone  equals  3.05.     I  shall 


82  ROVING    FRAME. 


describe  from  a  machine  that  is  most  convenient  to  me, 
which  I  believe  is  one  of  Higgins  &  Sons.  In  timing  the  front 
roller  I  find  it  running  i66  revolutions,  this  multiplied  by 
7.2  turns  of  spindle  for  one  revolution  of  front  roller, 
equals  166,  multiplied  by  7.2  equals  1200  revolutions  of 
spindle  per  minute,  a  good  average  rate  of  speed  for  a  7  in. 
by  3^  in.  bobbin,  and  should  not  exceed  this  rate  unless  a 
much  finer  roving  is  made,  when  the  lifting  rail  becomes 
reduced  in  its  motions,  also  the  capacity  of  the  bobbins. 

The  diameter  of  bobbins,  i  is  in.  multiplied  by  3.1416, 
equals  4.5  in.  circumference,  and  the  roller  is  i}i  diame- 
ter, multiplied  by  3. 141 6,  equals  3.534  in.  in  circumfer- 
ence, making  the  surface  velocity  of  front  roller  equal 
3.534,  multiplied  by  166,  equals  586  in.  per  minute,  this 
being  divided  by  the  circumference  of  bobbin,  equals  586 
in.  divided  by  4.5  in.  equals  130  revolutions  of  bobbin 
in  excess  of  spindle,  equals  1200,  plus  130,  equals 
1330  revolutions  of  bobbin  when  making  the  first  layer, 
and  taking  up,  130,  multiplied  by  4.5,  equals  586  in.  of 
roving  per  minute,  which  is  just  equal  to  the  delivery  in 
inches  of  front  roller.  Then  1330  divided  by  3.05,  the 
ratio  of  spindle  to  the  driving  shaft  one  revolution,  equals 
436  revolutions  of  long  sleeve,  which  I  will  denote  as  X 
at  the  first  layer  on  bobbin.  Now  the  roller  is  i}i  in.  diame- 
ter, divided  by  3.5  in.  diameter  of  full  bobbin,  equals 
.3214,  multiplied  by  166  revolutions  of  front  roller,  equals 
53.3  revolutions  less  when  the  bobbin  is  full,  S£>  1200, 
plus  53.3  equals  1253,  divided  by  3.05,  equals  407 
revolutions  of  X  when  bobbin  is  full.  The  spindle, 
1200  divided  by  3.05,  gives  us  the  number  of  revolutions 
of  driving  shaft,  equals  393  revolutions. 

Then  X  equals  436  minus  393,  equals  43  revolutions  to  be 
given  by  the  compound  motion,  this  being  equal  to  V>  equals 


ROVING     FRAME.  83 


21.5  revolutions  of  the  stud  or  compound  wheel,  when 
commencing  on  an  empty  bobbin,  its  motion  being  con- 
trary to  the  driving  bevel  wheel,  when  the  bobbin  leads 
the  flyer,  and  with  a  slower  motion  than  this  driving  bevel, 
*  'hence' '  the  X  will  have  a  speed  equal  to  the  sum  of  twice  the 
revolutions  of  the  compound  and  speed  of  driving  shaft, 
equal  to  393  plus  43,  equals  436  revolutions  of  X,  and  by 
decreasing  the  speed  with  the  cone,  in  proportion  to  the 
thickness  of  roving,  will  give  a  motion  to  the  bobbin  to 
suit  the  increasing  diameter  of  the  bobbin,  and  the  mo- 
tions decrease  as  the  bobbins  diameter  increases. 

So  when  the  bobbin  is  filled  the  X  is  407  minus  393, 
equals  2*  equals  7  revolutions  of  compound  wheel,  a  speed 
equal  to  a  bobbin  3^  in.  diameter,  but  when  the  flyer 
leads  the  bobbin  the  compound  wheel  is  reversed  in  mo- 
tion only,  the  same  rate  of  speed  is  retained,  but 
by  its  motion  being  slower  than  the  driving  bevel 
wheel,  and  rotating  the  same  way,  the  speed  of  bobbin 
is  decreased  at  the  first  layer  on  the  bobbin,  but  as 
the  bobbin  increases  in  diameter  the  speed  of  X  in- 
creases at  every  change  until  the  last  layer  when  bobbin 
is  filled.  When  you  want  to  change  the  lead  it  is  only 
necessary  to  reverse  the  motion  of  this  compound  wheel, 
and  the  flyer  presser. 

yhe  top  cone  has  a  velocity  of  of  166  multiplied  by 
"0  Iheeij  equal  308.3  revolutions  per  minute,  the  diam- 
eter of  large  end  of  cone  equals  6  in.  and  the  small  end  of 
cone  equals  3^  in.  equals  s*5  equals  1.72  ratio  multiplied  by 
308.3  equals  530  revolutions  of  the  bottom  cone  when 
driven  by  the  large  end,  and  on  the  contrary,  will  be  530 
divided  by  3.05  equals  174  revolutions  of  the  bottom 
cone.  Then  530  minus  1 74  equals  356  revolutions  for  3^^  in. 
bobbin  or  ^  multiplied   by  30    in.  the    length  of  cone, 


84  ROVING    FRAME, 


equals  20  in.  the  belt  as  moved  for  a  33^  in.  bobbin,  al- 
though this  could  be  changed  by  using  a  different  cone 
wheel,  and  would  alter  the  travel  of  cone  belt.  When 
once  the  cone  wheel  is  ascertained  so  that  the  tension  of 
roving  from  roller  to  flyer  is  right,  should  never  be 
changed  at  any  future  time  on  account  of  different  hank 
rovings,  for  it  is  wrong  and  unnecessary.  Now^j^ equals  1.75 
in.  minus  iigdividedby  2,  equals  .718,  equals  i.o3i25in.  the 
depth  of  cotton  on  side  section  of  the  bobbin,  the  num- 
ber of  layers  per  inch  being  16.5  multiplied  by  i. 03125 
in.  equals  17  layers  in  depth,  but,  the  tension  and  pressure 
call  for  4  times  that  multiplied  by  1 7  equals  68  reversions  for 
twice  round  the  presser  and  4.5  times  that  multiplied  by  17 
equals  76.5  reversions  for  three  times  round  the  presser,  how- 
ever, we  will  say  twice  round,  then  the  number  of  revolutions 
at  every  change  becomes  356  divided  by  68  equals  5.2 
revolutions  less,  and  20  in.  divided  by  68  equals  .29  in. 
move  of  rack,  and  i.oo  in.  divided  by  .29  equals  3.44 
moves  in  one  inch  in  length  of  cone,  and  3.44  multiplied 
by  5.2  equals  17.8  revolutions  less  per  inch  of  travel  giv- 
ing us  356  divided  by  17.8  equals  20  in.  travel  of  the  cone 
belt,  and  16.5  layersmultipliedby  4.5equals74. 25  in.  toone 
in.  in  length  on  the  empty  bobbin  and  7  times  that  equals 
520  in.  length  on.  If  5 86 divided  74. 25  equals  7.9  in.  length 
per  minute  laid,  then  7.9  in.  divided  by  8^  in.  circumfer- 
ence of  lift  wheel  equals  9.57,  revolutions  per  minute 
and  7  in.  lift  divided  by  8}(  in.  equal  .848  revo- 
lutions of  lifting  shaft.  The  number  of  extra  revolutions 
of  X  130  minus  53.3  when  full  equals  76.7  revolution  less, 
equals  one  revolution  for  every  reversion  three  times 
round  the  presser,  and  by  3.5  rnultiplied  by  3.1416  equals 
II  in.  multiplied  by  16.5  equals  181. 5  in.  per  inch  in 
length,    this   multiplied  by  4.12  in  length,   of  last  layer 


ROVING     FRAME.  85 


equals  748  in.  Then  586  in.  divided  by  181. 5  in.  equals 
3. 228  in.  per  minute  in.  length  and  68  layers  divided  by  16.5 
equals  4. 1 2  in.  length  of  lift  on  last  row.  If  the  cone  belt  as 
20  in.  travel  then  JS  equals  68  reversions,  and  the  length  of 
extremes  multiplied  by  the  half  of  reversions  will  equal 
length  of  roving  on  the  whole  bobbin  in  yards.  The  first 
layer  520  in.  on  7  in.  in  length,  the  last  layer  being  748 
in.  on  4.12  in.  in  length,  the  sum  of  extremes  being  1268 
multiplied  by  ^  equals  34  multiplied  by  1268  equals  431 12 
divided  by  36  equals  1200  yards  of  roving  on  bobbin. 
But  if  the  roving  be  wrapped  three  times  round  the 
presser  then  the  length  will  be  equal  ^'^i^.^^  divided  by  840 
equals  1.6  hanks  on  the  bobbin  7  in.  by  ^}4  in.  And  now 
I  think  we  have  got  it  pretty  well  understood  so  that  we 
know  what  and  when  a  change  ought  to  be  made.  If  the 
cone  wheel  is  changed  the  rule  is  cone  2  :  cone  2  :  :  Rack 
wheel  required,  for  if  the  cone  wheel  requires  to  be  larger 
it  will  draw  the  ends  taut,  and  so  will  a  larger  rack  wheel, 
but  the  cone  and  the  rack  wheels  are  inversely  to  each  other, 
that  is  if  I  put  a  larger  cone  wheel  on,  I  require  a  less  rack 
wheel,  and  one  tooth  at  the  cone  will  equal  one  lap  round  the 
presser  directly,  and  one  tooth  of  change  at  the  lift-wheel, 
will  cause  a  change  of  two  teeth  of  rack  being  in  direct  pro- 
portion to  the  lift-wheel.  So,  by  putting  a  small  cone-wheel 
on,  we  get  more  reversions,  consequently,  more  cotton  on 
the  bobbin,  and  the  more  laps  round  the  presser  means 
more  cotton  on  the  bobbin,  and  the  lifting-wheel  should 
never  be  changed  on  the  same  hank-roving,  which  is  often 
done.  I  will  now  explain,  by  the  wheels  on  this  machine, 
how  we  get  the  number  of  teeth  in  the  cone-wheel,  for  a  bob- 
bin il,  in.  diameter,  for  it  is  through  the  change  of  diame- 
ter of  bobbin  ?lon?,  which  infers  a  change  of  cone-wheel. 
nV';  wi-1  ot:'t  at  the  co::.;  ound-wheel,  which  has  no  teeth, 


86  ROVING    FRAME, 


requiring  21.5  revolutions  per  minute,  given  by  a  pinion 
gearing  into  it  of  14  teeth  on  this  same  shaft,  is  a  50  gear- 
ing into  a  60,  connected  with  this,  is  an  80  wheel  gearing 
into  cone- wheel,  this  bottom  cone  has  a  velocity  of  530 
revolutions.  I  will  now  get  the  ratio  of  these  wheels 
from  cone  wheel  to  compound  wheel,  which  are  seldom 
changed,  Zfi  equals  4.76  ratio.  Now  then,  ""^^s^^r-", 
equals  21  cone-wheel  required  for  a  bobbin  ijg  in.  diameter. 
The  lifting  motion  or  change  wheel  required  for  this  ma- 
chine, is  by  taking  a  cancellation  of  the  train  of  wheels 
from  cone  to  lift  shaft,  and  is  simply  530  divided  by  16.5 
equals  32,  wheel  on  the  end  of  long  shaft  going  under 
frame.  Now  this  32  change  whe^l  for  2.92  hank  roving 
is  calculated  from  the  use  of  the  35  and  76  teeth  bevels  in 
this  train  of  gears.  But  these  bevels  are  sometimes  changed 
to  44  and  54  teeth  bevels,  which  will  alter  the  change 
wheel,  by  dividing  change  wheel,  32  divided  by  1.76  ratio 
equals  18  wheel  required  on  the  end  of  long  shaft,  this 
being  a  ready  mode  of  getting  the  change  wheel  on  Hig- 
gins  &  Son's  frame. 

I  do  not  think  it  is  necessary  to  go  into  a  full  detailed 
description  of  this  lifting  motion  as  every  machine  maker 
as  a  different  train  of  gears  from  cone  to  lift  shaft,  and  it 
would  be  superfluous  in  hunting  up  such  an  history  of 
changes,  and  is  not  required  by  the  overseers  or  manufac- 
turers, these  calculations  having  been  made  by  the  ma- 
chine maker,  before  he  sends  the  machines  to  the  factory 
to  be  operated  on,  however,  I  have  given  you  the  rule  how 
to  get  the  number  of  layers  per  inch  for  any  hank  roving 
you  wish  to  make,  and  from  a  trial  on  the  machine  which 
will  show  you  how  many  layers  per  inch  it  is  geared  up 
for,  this  being  compared  with  the  one  required,  you  can- 
easily   determine   by   proportion   what    change   wheel   is 


ROVING     FRAME.  87 


necessary,  by  actual  demonstration.  I  have  yet  to  ascer- 
tain what  twist  wheel  is  required  to  give  us  7.2  turns  of 
spindle  for  one  revolution  of  front  roller.  There  is  a 
wheel  on  the  end  of  -front  roller  of  130  teeth  which  gears 
into  another  of  70  teeth  on  the  end  of  top  cone  shaft,  on 
this  same  shaft,  there  is  a  wheel  of  40  teeth  that  is  geared 
with  the  twist  wheel  by  a  carrier,  and  the  ratio  of  spindle 
with  driving  shaft  is  3.05.  So,  then,  by  a  little  canceling, 
we  can  obtain  the  number  of  teeth  in  the  twist  wheel  required 
from  the  data  or  wheels  given  „'*•  t!**-  ^f-  equal  31  twist 
wheel. 

We  have  now  to  take  the  draught  of  the  rollers  from 
the  wheels  and  diameter  of  fluted  rollers  generally  used  on 
the  roving  frame.  We  will  commence  at  the  front  roller, 
which  is  i}i  in.  in  diameter,  and  the  back  roller  i  in.  in 
diameter,  having  a  back  roller  wheel  of  56  teeth,  which 
gears  in  the  change  pinion.  On  this  shaft  is  a  stud  wheel 
of  100  teeth,  gearing  into  a  30  front  roller  wheel,  and 
from  these  is*.  5:n.  ^To  equals  nearly  37  pinion.  The  sche- 
dule gives  the  draught  5.71  requiring  a  36  or  37  change 
wheel  and  is  obtained  very  readily  by  canceling,  thus  : 
G.  point  210  divided  by  change  wheel  equals  draught. 
This  method  can  only  be  used  on  this  arrangement.  But 
you  can  easily  make  gauge  points  for  any  system  of  gears 
used  on  other  machines  by  the  same  mode  of  procedure. 
We  get  the  ratio  of  spindle  from  the  following  wheels 
necessary  to  that  result.  On  the  driving  shaft  is  a  42  teeth 
wheel  which  drives  a  28  teeth  on  the  end  of  spindle  shafts, 
on  these  are  wheels  of  55  teeth  driving  27  teeth  on  spin- 
dle, so  ^.  ^  equals  3.05  turns  of  spindle  for  the  driving 
shaft  one,  and  by  turning  this  shaft  round  until  you  have 
made  one  revolution  of  front  roller,  you  will  discover  that 
the  spindle  has  made  7.2  revolutions  in  the  same  move- 


88  ROVING    FRAME. 


ment,  this  being  in  ratio  with  a  31  twist  wheel.  I  may 
also  state  that  this  wheel  is  coincident  with  the  lifting  wheel 
for  any  hank  roving  you  wish  to  make. 

N.  B. — These  calculations  are  made  from  a  frame  run- 
ning 1200  revolutions  of  spindle.  You  must  go  by  the 
schedule  and  not  from  this  experiment. 


ROVING    FRAME. 


89 


FOB  A 

CO.A.FtS£:   ROVINGr  FFI.A.IMCE:. 


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9.6 

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6.2 

5.58 

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4.9 

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4.65 

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150 

5.67 

13.4 

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8. 

18.85 

6.97 

9©  ROVINGFRAME. 


I  will  return  now  to  the  first  system  of  making  No.  20's 
yarn,  by  dispensing  with  an  intermediate  frame,  and  using 
the  .85  hank  slubbing  roping  on  the  roving  frame,  accord- 
ing to  schedule  which  calls  for  a  2.7  hank  roving,  being  7 
per  cent,  coarser  than  the  other  method.  The  draught 
being  cu.  rt.  of  96  multiplied  by  2.7  equals  6.37  of  a  draught, 
requiring  210  divided  by  6.37  equals  32  or  33  change  pin- 
ion, reducing  the  weight  from  9.8  grains  to  3.1  grains  per 
yard,  with  sq.  rt.  of  17.8  multiplied  by  2.7  equals  6.95  turns 
of  twist  for  one  revolution  of  the  front  roller,  and  sq.  rt.  of 
2.7  multiplied  by  100  equals  16.4  layer  per  inch  in  length 
on  bobbin,  and  twist  wheel  of  33  teeth  and  a  lifting  wheel 
the  same,  ^^  teeth,  and  a  cone  wheel  of  21  teeth,  with  a 
move  of  rack  of  .27  in.  every  change,  which  can  be  let 
off  by  using  a  11  star  wheel  with  a  30  fastened  on  it,  and 
a  change  rack  wheel  of  48  teeth.  The  weights  for  the  top 
rollers  where  there  are  four  ends  under  one  roller  ought  to 
have  18  and  20  pounds,  and  is  sufficient  up  to  four  hank 
roving,  and  the  interval  between  front  and  second  rollers 
from  centre  to  centre,  should  be  i .  20  in. ,  and  the  front  roller 
having  a  velocity  of  155  revolutions  per  minute,  with  6.95 
turns  of  twist  for  one  revolution  of  front  roller,  making 
the  spindle  have  155  multiplied  by  6.95,  equals  1000  revo- 
lutions per  minute,  and  producing  14.2)155(10.7  minus  17 
per  cent,  equals  8.69  hanks  for  ten  hours,  and  a  weight  of 
2.7)8.69(3.22  lbs.  per  spindle,  and  6.95  divided  by  3.53, 
equals  nearly  two  turns  per  inch,  and  the  number  of  roving 
spindles  required  to  one  slubber  spindle  are  3.3,  or  the 
number  of  slubbing  spindles  can  be  determined  upon  by 
multiplying  number  of  roving  spindles  by  .3  equals  the 
number  of  slubbmg  spindles. 

I  think  we  have  got  the  rules  for  making   the  changes 


ROVING    FRAME.  91 


when  required,  pretty  well  understood  now,  and  I  hope 
they  have  left  an  impression  on  your  mind  that  will  always 
induce  you  to  act  in  no  other  way  than  those  previously 
given,  showing  that  you  have  a  system  about  your  busi- 
ness that  makes  it  a  science  with  you,  by  putting  in  practice 
every  rule  and  law  given  in  schedule,  also  with  the  knowl- 
edge of  things  which  are  here  propounded  and  advised. 

It  would  also  be  a  fit  time  now  to  say  a  word  or  two 
about  the  flyers  before  using  them,  as  they  have  such  an 
influence  over  the  production  of  the  frame,  when  running 
at  such  high  speeds,  by  having  the  pressers  put  in  proper 
shape,  and  should  be  kept  so,  which  must  be  similar  in 
shape,  every  one  of  them  to  be  successful.  Now  I  propose 
blocking  every  presser  on  the  flyer  before  being  put  in 
use,  this  is  dene  by  taking  the  flyer  in  the  left  hand  and 
placing  it  in  a  block  resting  on  the  overseers  bench ;  this 
block  is  made  in  such  a  form,  as  to  put  the  presser  in  a 
proper  shape,  and  it  also  binds  it  on  the  flyer  leg  at  the 
same_time,  by  giving  the  top  block  a  blow  with  the  ham- 
mer as  you  are  holding  it  in  place  with  your  left  hand. 
These  pressers  are  easily  put  out  of  shape,  and  it  becomes 
necessary  to  have  these  blocks  at  the  bench,  so  that  when 
one  of  them  gets  bent  out  of  shape,  it  can  easily  and 
readily  be  fixed,  even  by  the  minder  herself.  The  import- 
ance of  this  will  be  discovered  by  one  who  understands 
the  cause  of  slack  and  taut  roving.  For  when  the  drawing 
and  slubbing,  and  roving  are  all  even,  there  must  be  some 
other  cause  which  will  be  found  in  the  presser  being  out 
of  shape.  This  block  puts  them  all  in  one  shape,  causing 
them  to  press  the  roving  so  regular,  and  making  every  bob- 
bin have  the  same  diameter,  "hence  good  roving  is  the 
result,  besides  increasing  the  production  by  preventing 


92 


ROVING    FRAME. 


Stoppages  by  broken  ends,  and  changing  wheels  all  the 
time;  in  fact  they  are  indispensible  when  quality  and 
quantity  is  considered,  for  any  irregularity  in  such  delicate 
work  as  making  roving  is  destructive  to  all  the  previous 
manipulations  of  it,  and  will  certainly  be  the  cause  of 
making  weak  and  uneven  roving." 

The  principle  of  this  block  is  to  get  all  the  pressers  so 
that  they  will  come  into  contact  with  the  bobbin  at  a 
point  on  the  presser,  which  will  always  get  the  same  length 
of  leverage  from  the  flyer,  producing  an  even  pressure, 
and  causing  the  tension  of  the  roving  between  the  bobbin 
and  the  roller  on  every  end  alike,  and  when  once  regu- 
lated it  is  done  with,  giving  the  minder  less  work,  and 
making  less  waste,  also  saving  the  overseer  the  trouble  of 
so  much  changing.  These  pressers  are  apt  to  get  bent  and 
broken,  and  replaced,  by  new  ones  being  put  on,  and  if  we 
had  not  this  block  we  should  soon  have  them  in  all  kinds 
of  shape,  for  the  eye  cannot  detect  this  small  difference, 
and 'are  often  let  go  for  want  of  evidence  in  not  being  able 
to  distinguish  such  a  small  difference  in  their  shape,  and 
it  is  from  that  very  thing,  when  you  call  the  work  running 
bad  which  produces  it.  There  is  also  another  point  about 
this  blocking,  which  prevents  the  pressers  from  getting  all 
bruised  and  hammered  up,  for  they  leave  this  block  with- 
out mark  or  blemish,  securing  a  smooth  roving,  for  when 
in  the  block  it  is  put  in  the  proper  circle  by  a  blow  on  the 
top  block,  which  gives  it  by  percussion  the  required  shape, 
as  it  cannot  be  easily  accomplished  by  any  other  pressure, 
for  it  acts  like  stretching  by  peening,  and  if  they  are  done 
by  pressing  or  squeezing  it  springs  back  again,  and  so  far 
as  my  experience  has  been  with  all  kinds  of  pressers,  I 
would  certainly  prefer  a  single  centrifugal  to  any  other 


ROVING     FRAME. 


93 


extant,  by  its  being  simple  and  requiring  less  repairs  than 
double  or  spring  pressers,  although  the  latter  will  press 
more  cotton  on  the  bobbin,  yet  you  cannot  make  two 
springs  have  the  same  pressure  in  this  case,  hence  more 
twist  or  irregular  roving  is  the  result.  The  single  centri- 
fugal are  much  better  to  handle  by  the  minder,  but  they 
should  be  properly  hung  to  the  flyer,  and  of  equal  weight, 
being  easily  adjusted  and  replaced  when  one  breaks,  and 
should  be  so  applied  to  the  flyer,  that  when  not  rotating  the 
finger  will  fall  to  the  bobbin,  and  when  in  motion  it  should 
have  no  desire  to  fly  back  on  account  of  the  leg  of  presser 
not  being  in  its  proper  position,  for  so  soon  as  it  receives 
motion,  the  weight  of  the  leg  of  presser  should  obey  the 
law  of  central  force,  by  its  flying  out  tangentially  and  its 
force  increasing  as  its  rotary  motion  increases  in  an  oppo- 
site direction,  by  the  finger  of  the  presser  being  at  right 
angle  with  the  leg,  and  its  centripetal  force  will  be  equal 
to  momentum  and  the  leverage  of  the  finger ;  see  that  they 
all  hang  loose  and  not  to  bind  on  the  flyer  round  the  bot- 
tom of  the  leg,  or  where  it  is  hung.  These  flyers  ought 
to  be  well  dished  out  at  the  top,  at  such  an  angle  that  will 
give  plenty  of  friction  on  the  roving,  and  cause  the  twist 
to  run  up  to  the  front  roller,  and  the  slot  down  the  flyer 
leg  should  be  twisted  in  order  to  prevent  the  roving  from 
running  into  the  slot,  and  all  the  time  choking  it  up,  for 
its  tendency  is  to  fly  to  the  farthest  point  inside  the  flyer  leg 
when  running.  We  will  now  put  the  flyers  on  the  spindles, 
taking  care  to  have  the  front  row  reversed  to  the  back  row, 
as  the  single  centrifugal  presser  get  a  little  out  of  balance, 
as  the  finger  is  pushed  out  by  the  increased  diameter  of 
bobbin,  and  this  should  be  strictly  attended  to,  to  secure 
stability  of  the  machine,  for  if  neglected,  the  great  speed 


94  ROVING    FRAME. 


at  which  they  are  run  increases  the  danger,  and  ultimately 
loosens  all  the  joints,  causing  wear  and  tear  unnecessarily, 
and  ruining  the  frame  entirely ;  this  should  be  strictly  at- 
tended to,  for  the  minder  is  subject  to  doing  as  she  has 
been  taught,  and  that  very  indifferently  with  some,  but  any 
way  this  thing  should  not  be  allowed,  for  they  are  not  aware 
of  the  consequences.  Let  the  roller  weights  be  hung  with  the 
1 8  pounds  on  the  front  rollers,  and  the  20  pounds  for  the  mid- 
dle and  back  rollers,  it  is  not  compulsory  to  have  the  under 
clearers  on,  when  the  roving  gets  finer  than  two  hank 
roving,  but  wherever  they  are  used,  do  not  forget  to  oil 
the  lace  where  it  rests  on  the  front  roller,  for  it  creates 
great  friction  on  the  front  roller  if  neglected.  These 
twenty  pound  weights  are  sufficient  for  the  volume  of.  this 
sliver,  and  so  is  the  interval,  which  must  not  be  altered  on 
any  account  when  using  middling  cotton,  for  this  same 
volume  or  hank  roving,  which  governs  it  altogether  when 
using  the  same  grade  or  staple  of  cottons.  We  will  now 
see  that  the  cone  belt  be  properly  joined  by  being  cemented 
and  keeping  the  surface  perfectly  even,  which  are  reverse 
when  laces,  belt  hooks,  etc.,  are  used,  for  this  driving  is 
very  important  and  should  run  evenly  on  the  top  and  bot- 
tom cones,  without  any  jumping  or  pressing  too  hard 
against  the  belt  shipper — this  being  in  such  a  position  as 
not  to  let  the  belt  move  laterally  when  in  motion,  and 
kept  at  equal  distances  and  in  line  with  the  ends  of  cones. 
These  cones  are  30  in.  long  but  we  only  get  about  27  in. 
of  moving  surface  when  utilizing  the  whole  of  the  cone, 
we  have  proved  in  our  calculations  that  a  7  in.  by  3^  in. 
bobbin  only  requires  the  cone  belt  to  move  20  in.  on  the 
surface  of  cones,  which  would  be  much  better  if  the  cones 
were  longer,  but  that  would  cause  a  change  in  the  concave 


ROVING     FRAME.  95 


and  convexity,  or  hyperbolic  curve  of  these  cones.  I  have 
already  seen  cones  ^6  in.  long,  utilizing  34  in.  of  the  sur- 
face, making  7  in.  by  3^  in.  bobbins.  Suppose  now  we 
had  34  in.  divided  by  68  reversions  equals  .5  in.  move, 
instead  of  .29  in.  this  is  a  great  advantage  where  such  precis- 
ion is  required  in  the  motion  of  the  bobbin.  The  driving 
of  these  machines  should  have  such  size  of  pulleys  as  is 
most  conformable  with  the  power  required,  as  the  machine 
is  apt  to  have  an  irregular  motion  when  there  is  not  a  bal- 
ance wheel  large  enough  to  prevent  it,  and  this  may  have 
the  balance  of  power,  but  the  loss  in  time  is  against  it, 
when  there  are  sudden  stops  and  starts  to  be  made  to  fa- 
cilitate the  piecing  up  of  broken  ends,  and  also  in  bring- 
ing the  flyers  to  that  particular  position  where  the  girl  can 
get  her  hands  in  best  between  the  flyers  and  bobbins. 
Now  in  place  of  large  balance  wheel  I  would  prefer  larger 
pulleys,  so  that  the  belt  will  have  the  regulating  power  as 
well  as  the  motive  power,  by  this  change  there  will  be  less 
accidents  to  the  diff"erent  motions  of  the  machines,  and 
will  also  save  a  little  of  the  expense  of  belting  by  requir- 
ing less  in  width.  If  we  take  yi  off"  and  make  the  pulleys 
yi  larger  in  diameter,  we  have  just  the  same  power.  But 
it  is  the  governing  power  that  I  refer  to,  more  than  the 
driving,  for  by  its  increased  radius  and  traction  there  is 
less  chance  of  slipping  or  twitching  in  its  motive  power, 
and  enhancing  its  regulating  power,  whereby  we  ar- 
rive at  a  principle  which  should  be  consistent  with 
the  nature  of  the  machine  and  the  work  it  has  to 
perform,  and  if  this  suggestion  should  increase  the  cost, 
it  will  be  the  least  when  compared  with  the  dilatory  and 
sluggish  action  of  the  smaller  pulleys,  in  not  answering  to 
the  wish  of  the  operator   when   the   belt  will  squeak  and 


96  ROVING    FRAME. 

jerk  to  the  annoyance  of  all  around.  I  have  often  wished 
for  this  unpleasant  thing  to  be  remedied,  before  com- 
ing to  the  mill,  for  it  is  no  recommendation  to  have  the 
change  made  there.  Now,  with  regard  to  the  power  this 
machine  requires,  is  a  great  consideration  and  should  be 
brought  to  its  minimum,  by  all  and  every  means  that  can 
be  applied  or  reduced,  the  steel  rollers,  and  top  rollers 
when  weighted,  seem  to  absorb  a  good  deal  of  it,  and  it 
is  a  question  with  regard  to  the  bearings  in  the  stands 
which  kind  will  reduce  the  power  of  those  that  are  squared 
out,  or  those  that  are  circled  out,  I  should  prefer  the  last 
named,  because  they  will  hold  more  lubricating  material 
on  their  journals,  resisting  the  friction  caused  by  the 
heavy  weights  on  the  top  rollers.  But,  which  take  the 
least  power,  I  have  not  tested;  nor  the  spindle  shafts 
which  run  under  centre  of  foot  step,  which  I  think 
is  in  a  better  position  by  dispensing  with  skew  bevels  alto- 
gether for  driving  the  spindles.  The  hubs  of  the  coup- 
lings bevels  would  be  improved  very  much  if  they  had  a 
saw  gate  through  one  side,  and  then  a  collar  slipped  on 
with  set  screws  in,  would  hold  and  keep  the  shafts  true, 
dispensing  with  the  other  set  screws  which  are  troublesome 
and  in  the  way,  on  top  rail  shaft  when  the  guage 
is  narrow.  I  must  not  forget  the  value  of  having  the 
conductor  rod  as  close  as  possible,  and  the  eyes  put 
pretty  close  together  so  that  when  the  traverse  is  at  its  ex- 
tremes, it  will  let  the  outside  eye  overlap  the  inside  one 
and  keep  the  surface  of  the  leather  smooth  and  last  longer, 
a  feature  to  be  courted.  Now  then  if  the  overseer  wishes 
to  put  a  little  of  this  theory  into  practice  and  find  out 
whether  this  advice  has  come  from  a  judicious  and  care- 
ful observer,  as  he  argues  to  be,  and  whose  experience 
has  been  varied  and  brought  him  to  such  conclusions,  from 


ROVING    FRAME.  97 


test  and  long  trials  that  he  feels  ready  to  present  them  to 
the  public,  to  be  criticised  by  the  (great  schoolmaster)  and 
when  coming  from  such  a  desire,  it  behooves  us  to  try  and 
prove  whether  his  figures  and  rules  are  consistent  with  the 
kind  of  yarns  you  intend  to  manufacture,  that  is  low  and 
middling  counts  to  suit  the  general  trade  around  us.     It 
is  expected  from  you  in  your  experiments  to  adhere  to  the 
schedule  in  every  branch  of  manipulation  so  that  its  tenets 
may  be  fully  carried  out,  and  measured  by  its  results.     It 
will  be  as  well  here  to  have  something  to  say  about  the 
twist,  which  is  one  of   the  two  things  most  essential   in 
the  science  of  cotton  spinning  equal  twisthig  and  drawing. 
For  the  amount  of  twist  required  is  economy,  but  when 
put   in    injudiciously  it  is    extravagance,  and   will   even- 
tually prove   disastrous,  where   sharp    competition  meets 
us,    then    it   behooves    us    to    be    diligent  and   wise  in 
applying  it  both  in  just  what  is  necessary,  to  give  us  both 
in  length  and  strength  its  greatest  quantity.     The  rule  for 
twist  (depends  upon  the  length  of  fibre  and  the  sectional 
area  of  the  thread  inversely),  and  with  this  motive  in  view, 
we  will  commence  right  here  at  the  slubber,  which  is  the 
first  machine  to  give  twist,  there  being  4.23  turns  for  one 
revolution  of  i^  in.  diameter,  front  roller,  and  3.927  in., 
circumference,  which  gives  1.04  in.,  twist  per  inch  when 
divided  into  4.23  turns  of  twist,  for  .85  hank  slubbing,  and 
the  grade  of  cotton  previously  mentioned,  this  twist  which 
is  sufficient  when  your  drawing  has  been  properly  prepared, 
and  let  there  be  no  changing  of  this  quantity,   under  any 
plea  whatever,  for    excuses    are    ruinous,   and  are  made 
chiefly  when  there  has  been  some  previous  tinkering  and 
tampering  done,  without  any  foresight  as  to  the  results. 
Carelessness  and  incompetence  in  this  branch  of  the  busi- 
ness, will  bring  in  its  course,  all  those  complaints  which 


98  ROVING    FRAME. 


succeed  in  its  onward  progress  to  enormous  proportions, 
by  the  labor  and  machinery  it  has  to  pass  through,  plac- 
ing you  in  a  deplorable  position,  by  not  being  able  to 
present  in  the  market,  an  article  that  will  command  a  re- 
munerate price  for  your  labor,  and  above  all,  the  climax 
will  be,  that  you  have  been  unsuccessful.  Now  the  rule 
given  for  this  quantity  of  twist  must  be  adhered  to,  for  all 
roping  made  from  i^  in.,  diameter  of  roller,  but,  when 
made  from  i^  in.,  diameter  roller,  it  is  6.95  divided  by 
3.53  equal  nearly  two  twists  per  inch,  plus  the  latent  twist 
in  theslubber  roping  equal  J:";  equal  .168  plus  2  equal.  2.168 
the  whole  twist  in  2.7  hank  roving,  then  the  draught  for 
No.  2o's  equal  7.9,  so  7.9)2. i68(. 274  plus  20.8  equal  21.- 
074  twist  per  inch,  for  No.  20's  ring  yarn.  I  hope  these 
calculations  will  prove  correct,  when  experimented  on, 
for  I  don't  believe  in  guess  work,  for  a  small  fraction  of 
increase  twist,  or  one  spindle  stopped,  will  tend  to  increase 
the  cost  of  production,  and  it  is  these  things  that  seems 
small  but  they  accumulate  to  large  proportions  in  the  long 
run,  and  if  you.  are  not  expert  you  will  be  some  time  in 
finding  it  out  what  the  reason  is,  and  where  these  discrep- 
ancies are,  for  you  think  you  are  on  an  equal  footing 
•  with  your  competitor,  with  regard  to  raw  material  and  ma- 
chinery, and  why  should  you  not  make  as  good  an  article 
and  as  much  of  it  in  the  same  time  ?  I  say  you  can  by 
strict  attention  to  these  small  things,  beat  your  neighbour 
if  he  neglects  them,  so  you  will  now  perceive  the  object 
of  putting  just  the  amount  of  twist,  and  how  to  get  at  it  in  a 
thorough,  and  mathematical  manner,  so  that  there  can  be 
no  error  made  at  this  point.  The  weighting  of  these 
machines  will  be  found  in  the  schedule,  and  are  already 
mentioned  particularly,  they  are  not  to  be  excessive, 
because    the;    require   more   power   to  drive   them,    but 


ROVING     FRAME.  99 


Still  there  must  be  sufficient  to  hold  the  cotton,  and  not 
allow  it  to  be  pulled  through  in  chunks,  neither  should 
that  object  be  relieved  by  greater  intervals  which  would 
entirely  spoil  it,  sometimes,  it  comes  from  the  rollers 
undrawn,  by  being  overtwisted,  and  the  girl  should  al- 
ways piece  her  end  up  from  the  bobbin,  and  if  the  weight 
is  not  heavy  enough  when  the  interval  twist  and  draught 
are  put  to  the  schedule  it  will  be  the  best  thing  to  do  to 
make  them  heavier  but  not  until  you  are  fairly  convinced 
that  the  above  mentioned  are  right.  You  will  observe  that 
there  may  have  been  some  mistake  in  the  assortment  of  the 
cotton,  which  will  prevent  the  schedule  weight  answering, 
and  if  this  should  be  the  cause,  it  will  not  be  necessary  to 
increase  the  weights,  but  resort  to  the  next  best  thing,  by 
relieving  the  weight  on  the  middle  roller,  if  it  be  twisted 
roving,  and  give  it  to  the  back  roller,  just  enough  to  get 
out  of  the  dilemma,  but  be  sure  to  move  the  hanger  back 
again,  when  the  trouble  is  over.  The  slubber  and  roving 
frames  must  have  dead  weights,  and  should  have  back  and 
front  alike  to  prevent  mistakes  in  hanging  them  on,  and 
it  should  be  distinctly  understood,  when  ordering  the  ma- 
chines, that  the  numbers  intended  to  be  spun,  should  be 
specified,  as  the  weights  are  governed  by  the  Nos.  in  the 
schedule,  and  the  hooks  and  saddles  ought  to  be  made 
to  cause  the  least  friction,  no  matter  how  it  is  prevented, 
whether  they  be  wood,  or  iron,  or  brass,  or  any  other 
metal,  the  one  that  is  best  is  the  cheapest  at  cost.  I  would 
prefer  having  the  weights  made  after  trying  the  machine, 
if  the  material  be  out  of  the  general  line,  such  as  dyed 
cottons  or  merinos,  etc.,  which  requires  them  heavier  than 
gray  cotton  does,  and  it  would  be  cheaper  to  make  them 
to  order.  The  balance  weights  for  the  top  rail  should  be 
sufficient  when   the   bobbins  are  half  full,   (exclusive  of 


lOO  ROVING     FRAME. 


friction),  causing  them  to  act  favorably  with  the  cone  belt; 
and  the  weight  for  moving  the  driving  belt,  by  shipper  rod 
when  necessary,  should  be  ample,  and  act  spontaneously, 
should  there  happen  to  be  a  mischange  with  the  reversing 
shaft,  and  respond  at  once  to  the  dogs,  that  unlatches  the 
lever.  Hoping  that  the  importance  attached  to  this  weight- 
ing the  rollers  may  be  properly  understood  and  made  reli- 
able, to  secure  perfect  tenuity  at  all  times,  without  having  any 
suspicions  that  the  weighting  is  at  fault,  should  there  come 
any  kind  of  a  snag  which  appears  to  show  imperfect  draw- 
ing, let  there  be  no  surmise  or  doubt,  "for  the  weighting 
depends  on  quality  oi fibre  and  volume  of  sliver  and  inter- 
val." Thj  draughts  "depends  on  the  parallelism  of  the 
fibres,  with  the  volume  of  the  sliver  in  conjunction  with 
length  and  fineness  of  fibre  and  yarn."  These  are  the 
consisting  elements  as  to  how  far  the  extension  of  elonga- 
tion, and  attenuation  may  be  carried  under  these  con- 
troling  elements,  which  are  according  to  a  principle  laid 
down,  that  demonstrates  by  actual  experiments  a  result, 
approximating  to  perfect  drawing. 

There  are  exceptions  to  be  made  from  this  general  rule 
where  the  numbers  often  varies  on  the  same  machines, 
however,  they  ought  to  be  strickly  adhered  to  as  close  as 
possible,  for  this  wavering  and  rambling  away  from  estab- 
lished principles  should  be  denounced  whenever  detected 
by  those  who  are  competent  and  have  the  power  to  dis- 
charge these  duties,  this  being  another  of  the  small  things 
I  have  referred  to  before,  and  causes  trouble  and  worri- 
ment  when  your  yarn  proves  bad  and  difficult  to  discover, 
where  there  is  a  large  quantity  of  machinery,  for  this 
changing  is  usually  done  to  remedy  some  previous  neglect 
of  the  stipulated  weighings.  We  must  commence  with 
small  draughts,  while  the  sliver  is  large  and  its  fibres  tortu- 


ROVING    FRAME.  lOI 


ous,  but  as  they  become  attenuated  by  the  excess  of 
draughts  over  the  doublings,  they  will  also  become  closer 
and  more  parallel  as  the  material  advances,  so  shall  the 
draught  be  increased  through  its  whole  progress,  and  while 
arranging  these  draughts,  it  is  important  to  know  that  the 
pitch  of  the  wheels  used  for  drawing  cotton  with  fluted 
rollers,  should  be  as  fine  as  the  machine  and  work  will 
permit  of,  and  where  there  is  carriers  to  be  used,  always 
place  them  over  the  rollers,  and  have  them  conveniently 
large,  as  small  ones  are  injurious  and  inclined  to  twitter 
the  rollers,  a  very  serious  action,  and  must  be  guarded 
against  by  adopting  the  above  device,  or  any  other  that 
you  may  suggest,  that  will  surely  prevent  the  evil,  and 
make  a  radical  cure  of  it  entirely.  I  believe  when  the 
roller  stands  are  made  to  incline  towards  the  front,  will 
prevent  the  rolling  in  the  necks  or  journals,  and  should 
be  used  on  such  machines  that  are  not  heavily  weighted, 
corresponding  with  the  fine  teeth  recommended  for  the 
draught  wheels,  which  are  limited  by  the  power  required 
for  their  strength.  And  the  products  of  these  draughts 
divided  into  the  product  of  the  doubling,  will  give  a  quo- 
tient equal  to  the  counts  or  weights.  The  doubling  "  de- 
pends on  the  quality  of  fibre  and  directly  to  the  length 
and  strength,  and  {vice  versa)  to  its  shortness  and  weak- 
ness." It  is  intended  to  improve  the  uneveness  of  the 
sliver  or  roving,  by  getting  an  equal  number  of  fibres  in 
section  of  thread  through  its  whole  length,  which  is  sup- 
posed ta  be  called  a  level  thread,  and  giving  it  equal 
strength  in  every  portion,  by  having  got  as  many  fibres 
equally  distributed  as  possible  in  the  thickness  of  it,  being 
also  better  prepared  to  receive  increased  draughts,  when 
the  cotton  is  of  such  a  quality  to  warrant  it.  But  some- 
limes  we  get  infeiior  grade  oi  cotton  laat  will  not  stand 


ROVING     FRAME. 


the  doublings,  consequently  we  cannot  draw  so  much, 
**  hence  coarse  counts. ' '  And  if  not  very  even,  the  strength 
is  increased  by  the  tortuous  fibres  being  so  linked  with  each 
other,  that  it  modifies  or  helps  a  weak  and  short  stapled 
cotton  to  a  certain  extent ;  but  if  we  attempted  to 
make  a  fine  thread  from  a  twisted  roving,  whose 
filaments  were  crossed,  we  should  surely  fail,  and 
especially  if  we  endeavored  to  do  it  by  drawing  in  the 
rollers,  it  can  be  done  by  being  partially  drawn  and 
stretched  in  the  spinning  mule,  but  not  alarmingly,  al- 
though it  will  help  to  even  it  and  make  it  more  salable. 
It  is  in  this  machine  (mule)  only,  that  such  kinds  of  cot- 
ton can  best  be  spun,  on  account  of  it  having  the  two 
functions  at  the  same  time,  viz.:  drawing  and  stretching, 
being  free  from  any  drags,  attenuating  and  twisting  it  to 
the  full  extent  of  which  its  fibres  will  allow.  Claiming 
this  advantage  over  the  spinning  frame,  of  remedying  by 
stretching  what  the  latter  needs,  by  doublings,  also  ena- 
bling it  to  work  up  a  large  portion  of  waste,  which  ought 
to  be  used  sparingly  when  mixed  with  raw  cotton  to  be 
spun  on  the  ring  frame,  for  it  will  surely  show  itself  in 
puffs  and  spongy  places,  and  the  drawing  utterly  failing  to 
accomplish  the  task  of  making  the  thread  even  by  any  of 
the  machines  it  has  to  pass  through.  Now  we  will  try  to 
show  how  such  stock,  composed  of  such  unequal  lengths 
and  diameters  in  their  fibres,  can  be  drawn. 

I  mentioned,  when  treating  on  drawing  cotton,  that 
only  two  rollers  were  necessary  to  make  a  whole  draught, 
but  in  this  compound  of  material  we  are  obliged  to  use 
auxilliary  rollers  and  weights,  at  intervals  and  pressure  in 
a  ratio  suitable  to  the  unequalled  fibres  and  proclivities  of 
their  inherent  nature,  of  which  we  must  partially  under- 
stand before  we  attempt  to  adjust .  these  several  require- 


ROVING     FRAME.  I03 


ments  in  excess  of  pure  cotton  drawing,  or  we  attempt  to 
do  something  more  than  we  know,  exhibiting  a  good  sam- 
ple of  ignorance  in  the  experiments  and  producing  noth- 
ing but  a  waste  of  time,  I  say  this  from  my  own  experience, 
wishing  that  others  may  benefit  from  it  and  save  them  that 
labor  and  worriment  which  often  enfeebles  that  energy  of 
mind  required,  in  emulating  and  trying  to  excel  in  ihis, 
over  your  competitor,  by  some  novel  or  expeditious  way 
of  making  an  article  equally  as  good  at  a  lower  price. 
While  such  is  consistent  with  our  ingenuity,  yet  it  is  even 
as  deplorable  to  see  the  monomaniacs  and  gray-haired 
equally  as  prolific,  by  the  assiduous  labor  and  intense  de- 
sire to  make  money  faster  than  your  neighbor  and  to  there 
grave  in  double  quick  time,  instead  of  keeping  cool  and 
acquiring  knowledge,  which  tends  more  to  your  happiness 
than  all  your  riches.  In  showing  how  this  kind  of  material 
can  be  drawn,  I  will  illustrate  my  method  with  some  merino 
mixings,  the  short  fibres  we  will  call  1.25  in.  long,  and  the 
longest  2  in.  for  example,  we  should  by  these  have  a  geo- 
metrical mean  of  1.6  in.  this  would  be  the  interval  between 
front  and  second  rollers,  I  would  then  make  the  interval 
for  third  and  fourth  rollers  1.7  in.,  supposing  this  to 
be  on  a  double  draught  drawing  frame,  on  the  first 
head,  using  a  saddle  that  I  can  move  the  weight 
hook  to  and  fro,  as  it  seems  best  to  draw,  giving 
the  feeding  roller  a  chance  to  let  them  slip  through  by 
easing  the  weight  off  a  little  and  moving  the  hook  towards 
the  drawing  roller,  just  enough  to  obtain  good  drawing. 
We  will  call  the  whole  draught  four,  making  sq.  rt.  of  4  equal 
2  the  geometrical  mean  for  each  draught,  that  is  two  be- 
tween front  and  second,  and  two  between  third  and 
fourth  rollers,  and  the  second  and  third  rollers  having 
equal  motions  for  between  these  two  rollers  there  is  a  wide 


I04  ROVING     FRAME, 


interval,  so  that  the  web  can  be  collected  and  condensed 
in  order  that  it  will  hold  its  fibres  together  better  when 
passing  through  again,  between  the  front  and  second 
rollers.  Now  in  the  second  head  I  would  have  a  double 
roller  stand  with  three  lines  of  rollers  in  the  front  section, 
so  that  you  can  approach  the  drawing  roller,  by  having 
the  front  roller  weighted  separately,  and  the  second  and 
third  by  a  saddle,  that  the  weight  hook  can  be  moved  at 
will,  placing  the  weight  where  it  is  most  useful,  so  that  the 
long  fibres  will  escape  being  torn,  and  the  whole  draught 
remaining  the  same,  two  in  the  back  and  two  in  front  sec- 
tions of  rollers,  and  using  no  coilers  at  all.  It  is  now  ready 
for  slubber,  with  three  lines  of  rollers,  being  weighted  in 
the  ordinary  way,  only  a  little  extra  weight  on,  and  the 
second  and  third  rollers  with  a  saddle  that  the  weight 
hook  can  be  moved  to  suit  the  material,  and  the  flutes  of  the 
rollers  to  have  50  flutes  to  i}i  in.  diameter,  and  to  be  cut 
irregular.  The  front  and  second  roller  can  be  set  ig  in. 
closer  in  the  interval,  and  relieving  the  weight  on  each 
progressive  machine,  making  the  front  and  second  rollers 
on  each  a  little  closer  all  the  way  through,  keeping  the 
draughts  as  low  as  possible,  the  velocity  of  drawing  rollers 
being  about  30  feet  per  minute,  and  the  slubber  spindles 
should  be  50  per  cent,  slower  than  when  using  all  cotton,  and 
the  other  frames  about  30  per  cent,  slower,  the  intention 
is  to  keep  the  long  fibres  from  flying  out  when  drawing  and 
puttiftg  the  twist  in.  I  will,  at  some  future  time  give  a  full 
description  of  this  kind  of  work,  it  being  much  different  in 
its  treatment,  and  will  require  a  full  treatise  on  the  sub- 
ject. I  only  adverted  to  it  for  the  sake  of  illustration  in 
working  these  mixed  materials. 


ROVING     FRAME. 


105 


O   00-^  Os-f^ 


K3    10    M    to    to    fO    tOWOJt»iOJtA)OJ-t^-<^-t^v^<-n<-n    ON^J    oo  •-    i-    •- 
(j„  i*  (^  i.n    0\  OOvO    O    "-  <->J  <-n    OwO    >-i  OJ    OS  O  +>■    OOW    Q    CO  O    i-'  ^J 

UJtjOooooOto-f^^t^OOOO"  CX3^  00wco00QU)O\ 


Nos. 


Grains 
per  Hk. 


lO(OtOtOtOlOWOJ-t^vjl<-"00 


O    —    —    to    tOOJOJ-f^<-n   OS"^  ^J  vO    O    »-  OJ  -^    On^    O  >-n  4^.    O    00 


Lbs. 
Per  Sp. 


vOsOvO'O^vOVOvOvOVO    •-''-'•-'•-'"-''-'■-''-■'-'    "-I    "I-'    i-i    '-<'-' 

O   •-'   to  OJ  -f»-  v^  ON^J  OOVO    OOOOOOOOOO--   —   —    —   — 

O    ""   to  OJ  -1^  <J^   O"^   OOVO    O    to  OJ  4^   On 


Rev. 
of  Roller 


CO  00  00  00  00  00~^  ^J^^^J^J-vJ^a"^    OnO\OnOnOs  OsiJi  <^r\  vji 
vjl  +».  U>    to    «    '     vb    bo~vl  VJ^-KUJ'-'  VO^J<-"-i^tO— vO"^tO 


to  >.n  vji  >.n 


Fine 
Roving 
Draught 


vOvO    00000000000000  OO^J  ^^1-^^-J^J    OnOsONOnOn  Onv^ 


Coarse 
Roving 
Draught 


ON  "   On  to   O^  to   00  to   00  ■-   On  ' 


^^j  hH.ji.^a  "OJOJOJ 


Ring 
Twist 


tOtOtOi-ci-c    —    I—    "-    —    I-'-''-'"'-'-''-''-''-''-''-''-''-''-' 

O    O    OOOnO    OOCO^J^l'^   ONONUi>ji-t^.J^OJOJ    to    to   O    OnO"<I 

00  "to    b    C04^    '      On  to  -^  4^    .     On  "-  "^I    to  -^r    to    "cn  to  <-ri 


on  ^J^    ONi-n 


»jn  ^-n  V-n 


Mule 
Twist 


MD    00  00  00-^  ~^  ^J   On  On  Onui  <^4^4i.4i.(-oU)    to    tO    —    i-h^vO    OO^vI 
to    bo>ji  'tO---jCn^-S-f^  ONtO    CO-f^         on»<'ON—    ONi-iNO'tOON' 


Reeled 
Yarn 
Twist 


^O  ^J  ^-J  On  On  ON'-n  (.rH.n4>--f^-t=-OJOJ  tO  to  to  —  >-  O  pvO  CO~^  On 
•M  VT  —  CoCn  to  vO  ^.n  io  0C<-n  i-i'^4i.NO<-»i  — -^  to^^l  to  tO  ONVO  <-n 
Kn        v.n  v.n  Kj^        v.n  v-n        y^n         10  f-"  v-n   "-<  ^O 


Weft 
Twist 


(jiiototOM   —   —   "i-iOoOONpvpvOOopo  _00-<l  -vi  On  Onoi  ^ 

boCn   io  \b    ONtO    bovin -^  !!►>    bo-vl 


O0U>U>U>     tOtOtOtO-Hi-i-^    —    O 


O  p  vp  NO  NO    00  00  00->J    On  ONyx 

boji.  b  '►-  "--J  to  b 


No.  of 
Sp,  for 

I  rov. 

F.  R. 

No.  of 
Sp.  for 

I  rov. 

C.  R. 


Io6  ROVING     FRAME. 


We  have  now  arrived  at  the  spinning  machines,  which 
converts  the  roving  into  yarn  of  any  or  every  description 
required,  according  to  the  preparation  and  the  kind  of 
machine  to  spin  it  on.  Our  intention  is  to  make  No.  20's 
yarn,  either  from  fine  roving,  equals  2.92  hank,  or  from 
coarse  roving,  2.7  hank,  which  can  be  done  by  a  small 
difference  in  the  draughts  of  each,  equals  7.9  for  coarse 
roving  and  7.4  for  fine  roving,  these  draughts  correspond- 
ing with  the  different  hank  roving.  The  twist  in  the  yarn 
of  both  being  the  same,  equals  20.8  twists  per  inch,  and 
weighing  .416  grains  per  yard,  or  350  grains  to  one  hank 
or  840  yards,  requiring  70.14  pounds  to  break  one  lea, 
made  on  a  54  in.  wrap-reel.  The  speed  of  front  roller 
to  be  100  revolutions  per  minute,  and  the  twist  20.8 
multiplied  by  3.1416,  multiplied  by  100,  equals  6540  revo- 
lutions of  spindle  averaging  1.7  pounds  per  spindle  per  week 
of  60  hours,  on  the  ring  frame,  but,  if  spun  on  the  mule,  the 
production  will  be  20  per  cent,  less,  equals  1.37  pounds, 
and  the  proportion  of  ring  spindles  required  for  one  rov- 
ing spindle,  equals  11.3  for  2.7  hank  roving  and  10.6  for 
2.92  hank  roving.  These  speeds  will  prove  to  be,  by  a 
very  little  experience,  about  as  good  an  average  for  quality 
and  production  that  you  can  determine  on,  for  realizing 
the  most  profit.  When  everything  is  taken  in  considera- 
tion, it  is  not  very  high  speeds  with  smaller  spindles  alto- 
gether, that  gives  you  the  best  results,  it  is  a  coalescence  of 
every  respective  functional  power  which  this  machine  will 
give  from  its  construction,  every  motion  claiming  its  proper 
ratio,  from  the  main  one,  whose  merits  relatively  combined, 
which  must  be  obtained,  in  a  certain  measure,  from  the 
material  and  counts  to  be  spun.  I  mean  the  centralization 
of  its  greatest  powers,  whereby  we  obtain  the  above  men- 
tioned speeds,  the  results  of  great  experience  from  all  par- 


ROVING    FRAME.  I07 


ties  who  b'  /e  investigated  this  matter  thoroughly,  hoping 
that  these  remarks  will  prove  of  some  service  to  you,  by 
saving  you  the  trouble  and  expense  of  having  to  repeat 
them,  clinging  to  the  precepts  of  the  schedule  from  the 
start,  your  future  will  be  a  success.  That  is  my  object 
which  I  never  lose  sight  of,  when  trying  to  describe  to  you 
the  most  direct  route  by  which  you  can  arrive  at  success, 
keeping  in  the  path  I  have  advised  you,  for  if  you  begin 
to  wander,  either  right  or  left,  from  the  straight  and  given 
course,  you  will  surely  get  lost,  and  get  in  such  a  labyrinth 
of  ways  that  you  will  find  it  very  difficult  to  extricate  your- 
self from,  leaving  you  an  unsuccessful  man,  by  deviating 
from  the  course  you  have  been  advised  to.  In  setting  the 
rollers  for  these  ring  frames,  the  interval  should  be  one  in. 
from  front  to  second,  that  is  from  centre  to  centre,  and 
the  thread  guide  should  be  from  2  in.  to  2^  in.  to  top 
of  bobbin,  this  being  generally  fixed  by  the  machine  makers; 
and  it  is  necessary,  when  adjusting  the  frames,  always 
to  set  the  rings  concentric  with  spindle,  and  in  doing  so  it 
requires  the  spindle  rail  to  be  moved  in  some  cases,  when  the 
rail  lifters  have  worn,  and  caused  it  to  get  out  of  centre. 
Having  got  these  right,  then  the  guide  wires  can  be  set 
with  the  spindle,  taking  care  that  the  balance  weights  just 
exceed  the  rail,  but  when  you  make  a  doubling  frame  of 
it,  the  balance  weights,  and  the  twist,  and  the  thread  guide 
are  reversed  to  the  above.  The  ring  frame  seems  to  take 
the  lead  for  continuous  spinning,  on  account  of  it  requiring 
less  power  than  the  cap  or  flyer  frames,  and  the  ends  are 
pieced  up  much  handier  on  the  ring  frame,  reducing  skilled 
labor  to  a  minimum.  The  winding  on  of  the  thread  is 
done  by  the  little  traveller  slipping,  and  letting  a  little  of 
of  the  twist  go  out  at  the  same  time,  therefore,  the  twist 
is  not  perfect,  and  is  injurious  to  one  of  the  best  elements 


I08  ROVING     FRAME, 


in  cotton  spinning ;  the  speed  of  spindle  and  bobbin  are 
constaiit  with  the  drawing,  when  they  are  properly  con- 
nected. In  the  throstle  and  cap  frames,  the  twisting  and 
drawing,  and  winding  on  are  simultaneous  with  a  constant 
speed,  but  the  winding  on  is  due  to  the  bobbins  slipping. . 
The  throstle  frame  excels  all  other  frames  by  making  a 
nicer,  smooth,  and  rounder  thread,  through  being  held 
and  wrapped  with  the  flyer  leg,  preventing  its  fibres  from 
being  whizzed  out,  as  it  travels  from  the  drawing  rollers  to 
bobbin,  as  is  not  the  case  with  the  other  two  frames,  but  the 
cap  frames  on  this  very  account  will  show  more  elasticity 
of  thread  than  either  flyer  or  ring  frame,  and  by  its  whirl- 
ing the  thread  against  the  cap  guides,  send  any  loose  moats 
or  neps  that  are  capable  of  being  beat  out  with  such  force,* 
that  they  fall  out  by  this  rapid  beating  on  to  the  floor,  at 
the  same  time  it  makes  the  fibres  of  cotton  to  stand  out 
like  mule  yarn,  and  giving  it  a  wooly  appearance,  these 
machines  have  always  been  run  at  high  speeds,  requiring 
great  power  to  drive  them,  and  will  turn  as  many  hanks 
per  day  off  as  the  ring  frame,  but  generally  the  yarn  is  not 
so  well  spun,  even  from  the  same  roving  as  on  the  other 
frames,  although  it  is  yet  admired  by  some  for  certain 
kinds  of  goods  for  warp  yarn,  on  account  of  its  elasticity 
acting  favorably  with  the  reed,  when  striking  the  weft  up, 
and  in  shedding  also,  its  spongy  nature  makes  it  a  desira- 
ble class  of  yarn  for  the  filling  up  of  certain  cloths,  de- 
riving a  large  percentage  of  gain  over  the  wiry  thread 
made  on  throstle  frame,  so  you  see  the  different  methods 
of  putting  the  twist  in,  makes  different  class  of  yarns,  and 
all  made  from  the  same  preparation,  "  hence  the  making 
of  a  warp  by  the  mixture  of  these  different  yarns  would' 
be  simply  ridiculous,  showing  us  that  the  quality  of  the 
yarn  is  not  to  be  determined  altogether  by  the  treatment 


ROVING    FRAME.  IO9 


it  receives  before  it  reaches  the  spinning  process,  still  this 
good  treatment  must  be  held  up  as  a  prevailing 
po^Yer  towards  acquiring  an  even  thread.  For  these 
frames  can  claim  no  power  of  making  that  over  the 
preparation  that  has  already  been  given  it,  there 
may  some  injury  be  done  here,  if  the  drawing  and  twisting 
be  not  strictly  attended  to,  and  it  is  the  superior  manner 
of  twisting  in  the  throstle  frames  that  makes  claim  over 
every  other  kind  of  continuous  spinning  yet  extant,  and 
the  flyers  on  the  roving  frames  claim  the  same  advantage, 
when  running  at  a  moderate  speed,  by  excluding  the  ac- 
tion of  the  air  on  the  soft  twisted  rovings,  if  not  prevented 
will  raise  the  loose  fibres,  and  make  them  stand  out  at 
every  angle  imaginable  and  simultaneously  with  twist  are 
fastened  in  that  position,  having  the  appearance  of  a  bot- 
tle brush,  when  such  roving  is  made  and  passed  along  to 
the  spinning  frame,  you  can  imagine  the  kinks  and  cuts 
how  they  are  made  by  the  rollers  when  such  a  roving  is 
presented.  This  evil  has  been  fully  demonstrated  by  the 
Dan  forth  list  speeders,  for  in  attenuating  of  such  roving 
you  will  see  as  it  leaves  the  front  roller  on  the  spinning 
frame  these  imperfections  as  the  twist  runs  up,  making 
thick  and  thin  places,  the  twist  running  into  this  thread 
as  the  (square  of  the  diameters  inversely),  therefore,  making 
the  evil  still  worse,  and  that  is  not  all,  it  exhibits  a  want 
of  knowledge  of  the  business  on  those  who  have  the  man- 
agement under  their  care,  and  I  hope  these  remarks  will 
be  suggestive  of  using  every  effort  to  contribute  for  the 
making  of  a  smooth  roving,  with  all  the  fibres  laid  long- 
itudinal, which  will  be  conducive  to  making  an  even 
thread.  Generally  speaking  evenness  of  a  thread  "  depends 
on  the  amount  of  doublings  subordinate  to  the  equality  of 
fibres  and  draughts,  and   the  exacting  of   intervals."     If, 


ROVING    FRAME. 


these  are  the  essentials  for  making  a  perfect  even  thread, 
then  they  form  a  rule,  which  we  are  to  be  governed  by, 
and  if  we  are  "  to  believe  that  all  things  are  not  unrea- 
sonable, and  to  hope  all  things  not  impossible,"  then  I 
think  we  can  closely  approximate  perfection,  in  making 
an  even  thread,  for  this  rule  is  the  exact  formula  given  through 
the  whole  procedure  of  this  little  work  and  by  taking  the 
advice  as  is  given  progressively  you  will  obtain  the  qualites 
of  a  good  even  thread.  We  are  pretty  well  satisfied  on 
the  whole,  of  the  different  machines  in  use  for  making 
warps,  and  the  class  of  goods  required  in  our  market,  that 
the  ring  frame  is  the  most  profitable  one  to  use,  its  pro- 
duction in  quantity  and  the  class  of  yarn  it  makes,  seems 
to  answer  our  wants  for  which  our  kind  of  fabrics  are 
made  from.  It  being  a  kind  of  go  between  the  throstle 
yarn  and  mule  yarn,  which  suits  us  admirably  either  for 
warp  or  filling,  and  which  this  frame  can  easily  be  adapted, 
it  being  an  invention  of  this  country,  and  in  its  develop- 
ment has  undergone  a  variety  of  improvements  since  the 
orignal  prototype  was  first  presented  to  the  public, 
every  device  be  it  ever  so  trifling  that  has  been 
attached  to  the  frame,  has  been  held  as  a  claim  by  the  at- 
tache, until  some  other  novelty  as  superceded  it,  and  so 
these  improvements  keep  on  according  to  the  progressive 
ideas,  and  genius  which  our  country  produces,  until  we 
have  arrived  now  at  such  excellence  in  the  construction  of 
them,  that  there  seems  to  be  but  little  difference  now  in 
the  quantity  of  work  turned  off,  as  to  who  the  machine 
maker  may  be,  their  choice  being  left  to  their  own  judge- 
ment, with  regard  to  durability,  and  exactness  in  work- 
manship, which  all  tends  to  determine  the  cost  of  the  ma- 
chine. Before  leaving  this  frame,  I  must  refer  to  the 
draught  again,  being  7.4  the  breakage  for  back  and  middle 


ROVING     FRAME. 


will  be  the  quotient  of  minus  ,o  of  the  whole  draught  equal 
1. 12  multiplied  by  6. 66  equal  7.4,  and  the  gearing  up  of  these 
draught  wheels,  should  be  placed  all  at  the  gearing  end  of 
front  roller,  to  prevent  lost  motion,  and  the  weighting  of 
top  roller  in  front,  will  be  about  seven  pounds,  and  the 
same  for  back  and  middle  rollers  together,  this  will  be 
sufficient  for  No.  20's  yarn,  for  single  boss  rollers,  and 
with  respect  to  the  number  of  traveller  to  be  used,  I  could 
not  specify,  for  you  have  to  regulate  them  according  to 
the  material  your  yarn  is  composed  of,  and  the  construc- 
tion of  the  frame,  be  sure  to  have  the  ring  rail  free  and 
steady,  and  the  inside  of  guide  wire  over  the  centre  of 
spindle,  also  the  ring  rail  lifters  to  be  at  perfect  right- 
angles  with  the  rails,  and  preserving  their  equal  distances, 
the  latter. 

The  mule  is  a  spinning  machine  also,  and  is  mostly 
used  for  making  filling,  or  weft,  this  yarn  has  a  soft,  and 
downy  appearance  and  feel,  so  well  adapted  for  the  filling 
up  the  web  of  cloth,  and  for  the  making  of  soft  hosiery 
yarns,  owing,  this  peculiarity  to  the  manner  by  which  the 
twist  is  put  in  the  yarn,  there  being  a  striking  contrast, 
with  the  same  number  of  turns  of  twist  betwixt  this  mule, 
and  ring  yarns.  Yet  I  have  heard  of  experts,  that  could 
not  distinguish  one  from  the  other.  I  guarantee  that 
any  blind  man  can  make  a  distinction  in  a  piece  of  cloth, 
where  half  of  warp  is  mule  yarn,  and  the  other  ring  yarn, 
if  he  has  the  sense  of  feeling  in  his  fingers,  and  would  give 
you  convincing  proof,  by  letting  his  finger  stop  within  a 
shot  of  it.  Now  in  taking  the  whole  demand  for  yarns, 
this  class  is  far  greater  than  any  other,  and  can  be  pro- 
duced cheaper,  this,  is  a  great  advantage,  and  such  a  one 
that  tells  where  there  are  a  great  numbers  of  spindles  at 
work,  especially  when  similar  numbe/  of  yarn  can  be  made 


ROVING    FRAME. 


from  a  lower  grade  of  stock,  having  the  propensity  of  stretch- 
ing, b}'  the  gain  of  carriage  over  the  drawing  rollers,  which 
assists  in  making  a  uniform  thread,  by  accomplishing  what 
the  drawing  rollers  fails  in,  where  there  are  short  and  soft 
spongy  places  caused  by  the  fibres  not  being  held  to  be 
attenuated,  and  when  issuing  forth  from  the  rollers,  their 
lofty  and  bulky  form  resists  the  portion  of  twist,  and 
consequently  gives  the  thinner  part  of  the  thread  more 
than  its  portion;  therefore,  when  the  carriage  is  made 
to  travel  faster  than  the  circumference  of  front  roller, 
these  bulky  portions  which  are  rendered  soft  by  not 
receiving  their  ratio  of  twist,  become  reduced  by  the  in-^ 
creased  tension  and  getting  their  portion  of  twist  from 
the  thinner  parts  of  the  thread,  which  had  taken  up  more 
than  was  allotted  to  them,  and  will,  by  the  tmie  it  reaches 
to  the  full  stretch  become  a  pretty  uniform  thread,  but 
will  not  compare  to  the  uniformity,  of  twisting  given  by 
the  throstle  frame. 

We  must  admit,  that  the  mule  can  be  adapted  to  a 
greater  assortment  of  yarns  than  any  other  machine  yet 
brought  out,  and  will  retain  its  supremacy,-  as  a  more  de- 
sirable machine  for  those  who  are  spinning  for  the  world's 
market,  for  these  class  of  yarns  are  more  in  demand  than 
any  other,  made  by  continuous  spinning,  which  fails  in 
fully  accomplishing  the  task  of  imitating  mule  yarn.  It 
has  not  been  my  intention  in  writing  up  this  little  work 
to  describe  fully  the  motions  of  these  different  machines, 
and  their  mechanical  appliances  which  are  necessary  to 
their  construction,  but  to  render  such  information  that 
will  assist  those  who  have  the  task  of  adjusting  them,  and 
the  material  from  which  they  are  to  manipulate  into  what- 
ever they  are  calculated  to  produce,  and  helping  to  facili- 
tate, by  working  on  a  system  already  laid  down  in  the 


ROVING     FRAME.  II3 


schedule  to  which  can  be  referred  to,  until  you  have  be- 
come thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  rules  from  which 
this  schedule  was  originally  prepared,  and  made  in  order 
to  save  time  and  labor,  where  sudden  changes  become 
necessary,  and  ought  to  be  done  scientifically,  making  you 
master  of  your  situation,  and  not  a  mere  tyro,  but  a  journey- 
man, who  theoretically  and  practically  understands  what 
every  motion  requires,  without  attempting  to  experiment, 
and  this  is  the  reason  why  the  skilled  artisan  should  be 
recompensed  for  his  knowledge  of  the  business  he  follows, 
over  those  makeshifts  who  are  continually  applying  for 
these  situations,  and  are  often  engaged,  as  a  favor,  but  at 
a  price  consistent  with  their  knowledge.  This  being  an 
aggravation  to  every  one  who  has  to  depend  on  the  quality 
of  his  work,  whether  theirs  will  be  remunerative.  But,  in 
the  near  future  it  will  become  necessary  for  the  benefit  of 
the  employers,  to  ask  from  each  overseer,  a  certified 
diploma  of  his  capabilities,  before  engaging  him,  showing 
that  he  is  no  empiric,  but  a  bona  fide  applicant,  having 
been  examined  by  a  professor  or  expert,  who  shall  make 
out  his  papers  according  to  his  capabilities  for  the  situation 
he  has  so  earnestly  solicited,  and  for  every  applicant  the 
professor  must  exact  a  fee  corresponding  with  his  position 
and  extent  of  his  examination,  and  by  a  system  of  this 
kind  the  employer  will  have  no  doubt  of  his  theoretical 
knowledge,  which  can  be  relied  on  by  the  signature  of 
the  professor  on  his  papers,  he  must  also  show  some  recom- 
mendation of  his  practical  qualifications,  that  he  is  no 
impostor. 

I  must  resume  the  manner  of  calculating  the  twist  and 
draught  on  the  mule,  as  I  have  shown  on  the  other  machines, 
for  example,  I  shall  make  use  of  the  wheels  usually  sent 
on  Parr's  mules,  but  these  are  from  an  old  mule  ;  however. 


IT4  ROVING    B"RAME. 


they  will  answer  our  pupose  so  long  as  we  can  show  the 
method  by  which  we  get  the  result,  it  makes  no  difference 
as  to  what  kind  of  mule  it  is,  they  are  all  obtained  in  the 
same  manner.  We  want  to  get  the  draught  wheel,  or 
change  pinion,  to  produce  7.4  draught  for  No.  20's  yarn, 
made  from  2.92  hank  roving.  The  front  roller  wheel  is 
13  teeth,  and  the  stud  is  78  teeth,  the  back  roller  wheel  50 
teeth,  and  the  back  and  front  rollers  being  one  in.  in  di- 
ameter so  the  -^4.  \l,  equals  40  change  pinion  ;  this  is  exclu- 
sive of  gain  of  carriage,  which  should  have  about  ij4  in. 
for  No.  2o's  yarn,  with  an  increase  of  ^  in.  for  every  five 
Numbers.  Thenumberof  turns  of  twist  per  inch  for  No.  20's, 
called  weft  twist,  equals  14.5  multiplied  by  3.1416,  equals 
45.57  turns  for  front  roller,  one  revolution.     On  this  front 

roller  is  a  120  wheel,  which  runs  into  a  32  wheel  and 

required  rim  runs  a  10  in.  rim  on  the  cylinder.  The  cylinder 
is  6  in.  in  diameter  and  the  warve  is  J^  in.  in  diameter,  so 
^fi  48>  i2o>  '1,  equals  17.72  in.  rim,  number  of  turns,  equals  ^3", 
"i">  *7>  equals  45.57  turns  for  one  revolution  of  front  roller, 
when  divided  by  3.1416,  which  means  the  circumference 
of  unity  or  3.1416)45.57(14.5  turns  of  spindle  for  one 
inch  of  yarn  delivered  by  the  Iront  roller.  The  back 
shaft  is  driven  by  a  22  on  front  roller,  into  a  51  on  men- 
doza  wheel.  On  this  is  a  19,  which  drives  a  58  on  the 
back  shaft,  equals  %,  I2,  equals  7  turns  of  front  roller  for 
back  shaft,  one  revolution ;  but  the  shaft  makes  three 
revolutions  in  one  stretch  and  the  length  delivered  by  front 
roller,  equals  (>(}  in.,  when  the  diameter  of  roller  is  i  in. 
because  seven  revolutions  multiplied  by  3.1416,  equals 
22  in.,  multiplied  by  3  revolutions,  equals  66  in.,  and 
calling  the  speed  of  carriage  four  stretch  per  minute,  equals 
66  in.  multiplied  by  4,  equals  264  in.  per  minute  for  inter- 
mittent spinning,  and  when  multiplied  by  the  number  of 


ROVING     FRAME, 


1-5 


turns  per  inch,  it  equals  14.5  multiplied  by  264  in.  equals 
3828  revolutions  of  spindle,  this  divided  by  the  number  of 
turns  per  spindle  for  one  revolution  of  front  roller,  equals 
45.57)3828(84  revolutions  of  front  roller  per  minute,  giv- 
ing us  a  production  in  pound  weight,  by  the  rule,  equals 
length  in  inches  per  minute  multiplied  by  number  of  min- 
utes worked  per  week,  this  divided  by  number  of  inches  in 
one  hank  multiplied  by  number  of  yarn.  Then  in  the  first 
place  we  must  deduct  about  ten  per  cent,  for  stoppages, 
etc.,  equals  60  minus  6  equals  54  working  hours  nett,  equals 
54  multiplied  by  60  minutes,  equals  3240  minutes,  and  the 
number  of  inches  in  840  yards  equals  840  multiplied  by 
36  equals  30240  in.  in  one  hank,  so  we  get  sm^xm's  equals 
1. 41  pounds  per  week  per  spindle  of- No.  20's  weft  twist 
yarn.  It  is  evident  now  that  if  we  had  put  the  same  num- 
ber of  turns  per  inch  in  this  yarn,  our  production  would 
show  20  per  cent,  less  than  continuous  spinning  does,  but 
this  deficiency  is  made  up  when  you  take  into  consideration 
the  investment,  wages,  finding,  etc.,  and  I  think  will 
maintain  what  I  have  previously  stated,  that  we  can  spin 
for  the  market  cheaper  by  the  mule  reckoning,  on  the  kind 
of  stock  that  can  be  used  and  the  class  of  yarns  made  from 
it,  will  enter  largely  in  making  up  the  discrepancies,  by 
reduced  length  with  intermittent  spinning. 


ii6 


ROVING     FRAME. 


10    "    —    —    >-    — 

O    00  ON-f^    Is)    O    CC  0^u^  <ji4--^OJOJ    (0    to    "    — 

b 

to 

Hanks 

to 
<J1 

to 

to 

Interval 

b  O  O  b  '"-1  '•-'  '•-'  -1  '-'  '"-'  '"  '"-  M  K>  to  ►o  io 
W+>-   OsOOO    K)4i.v^  O^-I   OOVO    O   •-    10  -|i-   On 

to  di 
CO  to 

OJ  -P-  -f^ 
OnO  -F^ 

ixi 

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«     ON 

On 

Co 

ON- 

8^ 

Grains 
per  Yard 

10   to 

0  0 

0 

On 
0 

Weight 

on 
Roller 

O    O    to    io^+»4^   O\O\0nO\0000000    O    to   lo 

ON-M  -fu        4^  -^   0\  to  4^ 

00  OJ 

ON" 

Draught 

00  CO  CO  00\O  vp  vo   p   O   —  p 
O    O  v-n  o-i         C-k)    CNV-n  "^  \-n  V-n 

p\p 
io  do 

ON 

Hanks 
per  10  h. 

«-H    —    —    lOtOW^-Ln^JO 

(^    CO 

Lbs. 
per  Sp. 

ON-^ 

t 

Rev. 

of 
Roller 

oou)-;^-t-i^v^  onco  co\o  \o  ^■~-i  ooi. 

On  OnOJ  -K  OJ    COiji   O  <-n  ^    O       ^J  o^ 

7x3;^        8x4         10 

x5 

^^^OJOJljJfOtOtOtOtO    —    —    —    "•-1""- 

4»  to  0  "^ +^  —  oo+>.  (jj  to  —  \o  oo^j  yi -P'  10  p 

00^ 

On' 

Layers 

^    _>-_>-'    P    p    JO  4i.    ON 

b\"^  -vj  -Cj  bo  bo  bo^b   *     b   b   On  On  00  to 
--4        OJ    On       -P>-   OO+k        U)    OnU) 
ori          to          —                to 

Gauge 
Points 

to   to   tototo   —   ►-   —   —   "   —   —   "-   —   —   — 
4^  U>   iv)   —   O'^   CO-J   osY^  (^  ^  Si- ^N^ 

Diam'tr 

~~1  ^J   On  On  Onv^  K.nKj-i\j^4^4^^^<^{^{^ 

yi  JO  vp    On  10  vp    OnOj   p    OO-^j  -:j  5:^  ^J^  ,:„  •„ 

-Fk  tA)               NO  ^J    ON-f^         -M    —    —    "    to  00  -f^ 

to  \0  ^J  -P>.   " 

On 

Circum, 

ROVINGFRAME,  I17 


We  will  now  take  a  review  of  what  has  been  said  in  this 
little  work,  respecting  the  mode  of  procedure  by  taking 
the  schedule  as  a  guide  for  the  speeds,  weights,  measures, 
&c.,  which  has  been  framed  for  the  purpose  of  introducing 
into  our  cotton   mills  a  system,  which  will  show  a  more 
methodical  manner  of  making   our   yarns,   giving  every 
manufacturer  the  same  privilege  of  taking  advantage  of 
this  course  if  he  chooses,  being  one  so  unique  in  its  mode 
of  precedure  and  placing  each  individual  manufacturer  on 
the  same  footing  as  to  how  he  should  proceed  to  make  any 
special  number  of  yarn  at   the  least   cost,  causing  a  uni- 
versality in  the  prices,  bringing  competitors  on  equal  terms, 
that  they  may  meet  each  other  more  agreeable  in  the  mar- 
kets, and  hasten  a  continued  friendship  which  is  more  de- 
sirable than  a  wrangling  disposition,  eifdeavoring  to  crush 
each  other  by  reduced  prices,  causing  enmity  and  discord, 
but   by  adopting  this  schedule  system  it  will  alleviate  this 
feeling  in  a  measure  calculated   in  the   cost   by  wages,  for 
these  will  have  a  constant   tendency  in  making  and   pro- 
ducing them  on  equal  grounds,  and  so  with  the  buying  of 
your  cotton  if  you  have  money  or  credit.     Then  if  your 
competitor  takes  advantage  of  you  it  will  come  from  some 
other  source,  whereby  he  can  reduce  the  general  expenses 
of  his  mill,  by  a  small  attribute  of  acuteness,  which  is  a 
very  essential  thing  to  have  in   the  business.     It  is  also 
necessary  for  your  machinery  to  be  able  to  produce   the 
quantity  of  work  per  day  as  shown  in  the  schedule  for  each 
machine,  and  that  will   be  enough  to  keep  you  safe,  and 
insure  you  a  better  quality,  than   an  overproduction  from 
increased  speeds,  for  there  is  a  limit  to  all  the  preparatory 
machines,  which  you  cannot  overcome  with  the  machines 
now  in  present  use.     We  often  hear  of  great  productions, 
but  annual  statistics  will  show  them  wanting,  who  has  been 


Il8  ROVING     FRAME. 


trying  to  jump  the  fence,  for  this  boundary  is  one  of  our 
safeguards,  to  prevent  trespassing  outside  of  the  limits  of 
the  schedule  ;  our  experience  has  proved  beyond  doubt 
that  these  quantities  herein  specified,  warrants  the  best  and 
most  satisfactory  results,  when  compared  with  the  most 
exaggerated  productions,  which  are  frail  and  faulty,  by  t^e 
excess,  possessing  little  value  for  the  amount  of  labor  and 
power  consumed.  It  may  be  inferred  by  some  of  our  readers, 
that  the  spreaders  and  cards  are  not  sufficiently  taxed,  and 
might  as  well  do  more  than  the  quantity  specified,  which 
they  presume  is  a  dead  loss  to  the  manufacturer,  and  would 
bring  him  to  ruin.  Now  I  hold  the  reverse  opinion,  and  would 
not  increase  the  capacity  given,  for  they  will  do  no  more  and 
do  it  right.  I  have  not  specified  the  amount  of  work  for 
underflat  card,  which  claims  to  do  double  the  quantity  of 
an  ordinary  flat  card,  my  experience  with  them  has  not 
proved  it,  by  no  means  used  at  present,  and  these  are 
what  has  aNvays  produced  good  carding  on  every  other 
kind  of  card  in  present  use,  I  do  believe  this,  if  the  un- 
derflats  was  dispensed  with,  and  substitute  workers  and 
strippers  in  their  place,  would  be  a  much  superior  manner 
of  increasing  the  quantity,  they  would  also  get  clear  of 
the  short  fibres  and  rubbish  which  are  held  in  by  these 
flats,  choking  them  all  up  to  centre  line,  causing  the  card 
to  make  neps,  by  being  surcharged,  which  cannot  be 
avoided  in  their  present  position  ;  and  I  will  venture  to 
say  that  there  would  be  more  carding  virtues  in  presenting 
the  lap  to  the  cylinder  by  the  feed  rollers  on  this  card, 
than  there  is  by  the  two  rollers  and  the.underflats  com- 
bined, I  mean  the  principle  by  which  good  carding  can 
be  better  attained,  in  lieu  of  two  rollers  to  carry  the  cot- 
ton, and  the  underflats  to  hold  the  residue  which  should 
have  dropped  out.     It  would  be  a  decided  improvement 


KOVINGFRAME.  II9 


if  the  lap  was  so  presented,  for  it  is  the  most  availably 
place  and  position  for  the  cylinder  to  execute  such  good 
work  being  better  prepared  for  the  flats  to  receive,  for 
more  of  the  extraneous  matter  would  be  driven  out.  for 
when  you  come  to  compare  the  slow  motion  of  feed  roll- 
ers, with  the  rapid  revolving  cylinder,  in  contrast,  to  the 
quicker  surface  speed  of  lickerin  which  has  no  hold  on 
the  filaments  to  allow  them  to  be  teased  out  like  the  feed 
roller  has  with  the  cylinder.  So  in  its  present  state  of 
construction  I  could  not  determine  what  its  production 
would  be  of  good  carding.  The  revolving  top  flat  card 
exhibits  good  principles  of  carding,  and  a  greater  quantity 
than  ordinary  flat  card  can  do,  but,  requires  great  atten- 
tion, and  skill  to  keep  them  in  order,  and  this  article  being 
scarce  or  hard  to  keep  at  the  price,  they  prove  unsatisfac- 
tory and  such  a  piece  of  ingenuity  has  to  be  forsaken  on 
account  of  a  more  industrious  class  of  help  to  attend  them. 
The  roller  card  still  maintains  its  reputation  which  it  has 
held  for  a  century,  and  has  no  signs  of  becoming  a  martyr 
to  any  of  the  recent  innovations  which  has  been  intro- 
duced of  late,  its  proportion  of  quality  to  quantity  has  no 
other  competitor  where  they  approximate  so  nearly,  ex- 
cept the  revolving  flat  card  which  comes  up  pretty  closely 
and  proved  itself  a  pretty  good  match  in  the  race.  But  its 
no  matter  what  kind  of  card  it  is,  or  how  it  is  constructed,  if 
it  executes  good  quality  of  carding,  with  simple  adjustments 
to  produce  it,  that  we  may  require  less  skilled  labor  to 
perform  this  task,  for  our  object  is  to  reduce  the  cost,  but 
not  altogether,  at  the  risk  of  injuring  our  machines  by  en- 
gaging such  help  as  are  not  competent  of  doing  ordinary  card 
room  services  it  will  be  much  better  to  employ  skilled  per- 
sons and  increase  the  production,  by  better  care  and 
attention  on  them.     The  railway  head  has  received  some 


ROVING     FRAME, 


improvements,  and  are  acknowledged  to  be  more  complete, 
but  not  sufficient  to  warrant  an  even  sliver.     Yet  we  may 
look  for  some  bright  genius  being  struck  with  the  idea  be- 
fore long,  of  having  invented  a  device  by  which  the  rollers 
will    be   ready  in  advance,   to  correct  any  inequality  of 
slivers  issuing  from  the  trough  up  to  back  roller  of  railway 
head,  this  would  be  a  great  achievement,  deserving  all  the 
eulogy  and   emoluments,  which  a  manufacturing   people 
could  bestow,   for  such    an    improvement   on  this  useful 
piece  of  machinery.     The  drawing  frame  stands  where  it 
did  thirty  years  ago,  and  has  received  no  substantial  im- 
provement since  the  coiler  was  applied,  with  the  exception 
of  a   few   gim-cracks,    whose    novelties   soon   become   a 
nuisance,  and  are  taken  off  as  bric-a-brac.     I  am  glad  to 
see  that  some  of  our  machine  makers,  have  of  late,  come 
to  the  conclusion,  to  place  all  the  driving  gears  for  the 
rollers  at  one  end  of  drawing  frame,  a  much  wanted  change 
necessary  for  the  quality  of  the  drawing  sliver,  which  was 
deficient,  caused  by  the  lost  motion  and  torsion,  from  a 
serpentine  course  of  driving  the  rollers,  from  both  ends  of 
the  frame,  we  are  also  deriving  some  benefit  by  the  adop- 
tion of  short  frames,  so  that  we  can  have  our  steel  roller  in 
•one  continuous  length,  discarding  with  jointing  by  short 
rollers.     There  is  also  a  hazard  of  ruining  your  sliver,  by 
using  calenders  with  grooves  in  for  condensing  them,  I 
have  repeatedly  been   forced  to  replace  them  with  plane 
surfaced  rollers  on  account  of  the  fibres  getting  cut  up  by 
a  lateral  movement  of  the  rollers  and  the  trumpet  getting 
out  of  place,  and  should  consider  certainty  of  more  im- 
pctftance  than  risk,  believing  that  you  will  keep  a  vigilant 
watch  over  this  important  machine,  from  what  I  have  pre- 
viously stated  about  it,  for  you  are  sure  to  reap  the  benefit 
from  the  care  and  attention  so  earnestly  desired,  which, 
in  a  measure,  gives  you  the  profit  and  loss  account  here. 


ROVING     FRAME. 


When  we  come  to  slubber,  intermediate,  and  roving 
frames,  we  find  an  increase  in  production  by  having  a  more 
substantial  spindle  and  bolster  reducing  the  vibrations  caused 
by  the  flyers  getting  out  of  balance,  and  the  constant  wear 
of  spindle  and  bolster,  by  the  incessant  alternating  motion 
of  bobbin  rail,  which  used  to  shake  so  violently  when 
in  its  lowest  position,  making  uneven  roving  at  every 
revolution  of  flyer,  by  its  eccentricity,  it  is  seldom  we  see 
anything  of  that  kind  now,  having  improved  the  construc- 
tion of  the  machines,  which  insures  firmness,  with  a  de- 
sire for  durability,  being  elegant  in  design,  and  elaborate 
in  finish,  leaving  nothing  more  to  desire,  except  in  that 
they  should  have  proper  care  and  attention,  by  those  who 
are  in  charge  of  them,  keeping  them  cleaned  and  oiled  en- 
abling them  to  turn  off  the  required  production,  as  well 
as  giving  them  a  (delightful  appearance,  and  in  making  an 
effort  to  put  in  practice  these  useful  hints,  you  will  dis- 
cover, how  much  easier  it  is  to  accomplish  the  days  work, 
by  having  everything  in  its  place,  and  put  in  use  at  the 
proper  time,  showing  that  a  masterly  discipline  over  your 
help,  puts  confusion  and  irregularities  at  a  discount,  by 
the  order  and  civility  which  your  help  have  recognized 
the  place  to  be  an  institute,  wliere  good  conduct  and  de- 
corum is  taught,  tending  to  promote  their  welfare  accord- 
ing to  their  industry,  instead  of  a  workshop  of  gabbling 
drivellers,  whose  habits  bring  disorder,  making  waste  by 
their  slovenly  manner  of  working,  bringing  the  machinery 
to  rack  and  ruin,  consuming  more  power,  with  less  pro- 
duction. Such  is  the  course  of  undisciplined  help,  and 
would  be  better  to  discharge  those  who  are  not  capable  of 
reform,  in  preference  to  making  your  room  into  a  rag  or 
junk  shop,  besides  you  are  compelled  to  have  the  quantity 
of  work  off  according  to  schedule  in  a  proper  manner,  so 


ROVING     FRAME, 


that  the  succeeding  machines  may  be  regularly  supplied. 
With  these  few  words  of  advice  to  those  who  feel  inclined 
to  adopt  this  system,  hoping  they  will  appreciate  it  for  its 
economy  and  simplicity.  I  shall  now  leave  you  with  my 
best  wishes. 


